The Weather Makers of the Wonder Planet
by Al1701
Summary: Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime: Milro, Auler, and Sophie run into a "small" problem when they investigate mysterious flooding in the Tane-Tane Kingdom. Now, the rains must be stopped by the next dawn, or else.
1. Chapter 1: BLINDSIDED!

Diaclaimer: Fushigiboshi no Futago and all related titles are the property of BIRTHDAY, BANDAI, Hal Filmmaker, TV Tokyo, NAS, NEC, Ciao Comics, et al.

Chapter 1: BLINDSIDED!

"…and they lived happily ever after," Milro read the last line of the story. The teenaged princess of the Drop Kingdom closed the large book of fairytales and rested it gently in her lap. She turned to her younger brother in his bed beside her. "Wasn't that a good story, Nalro?"

"I guess," Nalro replied unenthusiastically.

"What's wrong?" Milro asked. The beige, beaver-like ears nestled in her sandy-colored hair twitched in tic of curiosity.

"Nothing," Nalro replied. "I just think I'm getting too big for fairytales."

Milro teased, "Perhaps you're getting too big for me to read bedtime stories to you."

"No!" Nalro exclaimed. "It's not that. I just want to hear other kinds of stories."

"Other kinds of stories, eh?" Milro thought out loud. She paused for a second to ponder. "I know," she said when an idea came to her. "How about I tell you the story of the Weather-Makers?"

"The Weather-Makers?" Nalro repeated.

"Yes," Milro replied.

The petite half-Beaver stood up and set the book down on a nearby stand. She walked around his bed and picked up two bookends. They were decorated with figures of Beavers dressed in the uniforms of their country's workers. The male was dressed in a blue jacket and wide-brimmed, cone-shaped hat and the female was wearing a blue dress with a darker blue shawl and a bandana on her head.

"They're a very special group of workers from the Windmill Kingdom and our Drop Kingdom I know," Milro explained. "They once saved the Wonder Planet."

"Yeah right," Nalro scoffed.

"Well, do you want to hear their story?" Milro asked.

"Sure," Nalro replied with shrug.

"Well, it will have to wait until tomorrow evening," Milro said, putting the bookends back on the shelf. "It's time for growing princes to go to sleep."

"Arlight," Nalro said, clutching his gray stingray stuff animal and settled into his bed. "Good night, Sis."

Milro picked up the book and said "Good night" before turning off the lights as she left the room.

* * *

Nalro waited anxiously through the next day for evening to come. He thought Milro was pulling his leg about these "Weather-Makers" but it sounded like a good story. As promised, Milro came in the evening with a packet of pictures she had drawn of the story. Nalro was already in bed and waiting for her.

"I see we're ready," Milro said as she sat down in the chair next to his bed.

Nalro nodded eagerly in response.

"Alight," Milro said. She straightened the packet and cleared her throat. "Once upon a time…" she started.

Nalro immediately shot her a nasty glare. Milro placed her hand over her mouth and tried to keep from giggling. "Actually, this happened early this spring before the trees started to get their leaves again after the long winter," she really started this time. She pulled back to the first card to reveal a very well drawn picture of a large Beaver woman sitting behind a large desk. "Mother was attending to her duties that morning…"

Nalro sat back in bed as Milro's words and the pictures took on life in his imagination.

* * * * *

Mother was attending to her duties that morning, reading through various affairs of state and giving them her approval or disapproval. It was a bright morning with copious amounts of light pouring in through the large bay windows behind her. She hardly noticed, however, as she was engrossed in her work. As she finished one binder and was about to start another, a chime came from her desk.

She jabbed a flashing button in her desk with the butt of her pen and answered, "Yes?"

"Queen Yamul," a male voice reported over the speaker, "you're daughter wishes to see you."

Mother took the reading glasses off the bridge of her muzzle and set them down gently on her desk. "Send her in," she replied before pressing the button again to close the line.

The blue, double doors at the opposite end of her large, sparsely furnished office separated with the gentle hiss of hydraulics. I stepped in and greeted her with a curtsy. "Good morning, Mother," I said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Milro," Mother replied warmly.

"We missed you at breakfast," I said.

"I had a lot of work to get to today, so I thought I'd start early." Mother surveyed the piles of papers and binders stacked on her desk and sighed. "The more they say we're becoming a paperless society, the more paperwork seems to make its way on my desk." She pulled her blouse straight and returned her glasses to their place on her muzzle. "You just have to push your way through sometimes," she grumbled. "It's something you'll understand when you become queen."

"Oh," I replied in a very small voice. "Well, I'm sorry for disturbing you." I curtsied again.

I was about to leave when another chime came from the desk. Mother pressed the button and answered "Yes?" again.

"I'm sorry to disturb you again," the voice apologized, "but Prince Auler and Princess Sophie of the Windmill Kingdom are here."

Mother furrowed her brow at this news. "Why are they here?" she thought out loud. She then looked to me. "Did you invite them?"

"No." I shook my head, equally confused.

"I told them you were busy," the voice explained, "but they say it's urgent."

"Send them in then," Mother said, taking the glasses off her muzzle again and placing them on her desk.

The doors slid open and the half-Doggel prince and princess of the Windmill Kingdom stepped in. Auler removed his top hat-like crown and bowed stiffly and his mint haired sister curtsied.

"Greetings, You Majesty," they said. Auler then continued, "Thank you for seeing us on such short notice."

"We're always happy to see our friends from the Windmill Kingdom," Mother said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Auler and Sophie looked to one another and then back to Mother. Their sapphire eyes sank slightly. "It's not us," Auler said solemnly, motioning with his eyes to the floor below them.

Mother stood up to look over her desk. Standing between them was a tiny Tane-Tane person. His coat and hat should have been Kelly green, but were tan from dried mud and he looked gaunt and exhausted.

"Could you give me one more lift-dane?" the ten centimeter tall man asked.

"Of course," Sophie replied. She placed her hand down next to the floor so he could climb into her slender, gloved palm. She lifted him gently to the desk and let him climb off.

"Your Highness," the man said as he started fishing through his satchel, "I'm afraid I bring distressing news from the Tane-Tane Kingdom-dane."

He pulled out a paper and handed it to Mother. She took the tiny document between her thumb and index finger and brought out her text magnifier. She placed the paper under the device and started reading. The message read:

_Queen Yamul of the Drop Kingdom:_

_It has been more than two days since an almost constant rain has begun falling across the Tane-Tane Kingdom. The rivers and lakes across the country are beginning to swell and landslides have been reported in the more mountainous regions. I am afraid serious damage will be done to the Tane-Tane Kingdom if the rains do not stop soon._

_I am writing you to request this be brought to end as soon as possible. Please respond as soon you get this message. I await your reply._

_Your Fellow Monarch,_

_King King of the Tane-Tane Kingdom_

"That was written five days ago-dane," the messenger added as Mother picked up her head from the magnifier. "I tried to come to the Drop Kingdom directly, but all routes were impassable. I eventually found my way to the Windmill Kingdom and Prince Auler and Princess Sophie agreed to bring me here."

"We were glad to help," Auler said. He then turned to Mother with a grave expression on his face. "Things are getting worse down there," he said in an equally grave tone. "It's still raining and the water is already threatening their lower lying villages. Something has to be done."

Mother bobbed her head in a slight nodded. "Something most certainly will be," she growled. She jabbed the button and barked, "Get me the Cloud Management Room."

* * *

The Cloud Management Room, at the top of the castle's central tower, is where our country's engineers oversee the operation of the machine of the Drop Kingdom. The massive structure of glass and metal that produces all the clouds for the Wonder Planet comes up from the center of the floor through the apex of the domed ceiling. Along the round wall are various work stations from where the engineering crew can monitor all its functions and other duties our country performs.

Chief Engineer Spigot was slouched in his chair at that moment. He was so sound asleep he didn't notice the chimes coming from his station until the fourth set. He opened one eye slightly and lazily kicked a button with his heel. "Spigot," he yawned.

"SPIGOT…" Mother's voice boomed over the speaker and resounded through the large room like a loud clang in a giant bell. The Beaver was so startled he jumped out of his chair to land on the floor with a thud. "…in my office, NOW!!!"

Spigot slowly brought up his shaky hand to grasp the edge of his station and pulled himself up. "I'll be right down," he said with a salute.

He looked to his engineers still staring in his direction with eyes widened in shock. "As you were," he ordered with regained composure and watched as they returned to what they were doing before. He then turned to a female Beaver with a large tuft of hair sticking out from under her bandana. "Emily," he said, "you have the machine."

"Will do, Chief," Emily replied.

Spigot stomped out of the room, grumbling something under his breath.

Emily heaved an exasperated sigh after the doors slid closed behind Spigot. "This can't be good."

"What makes you say that?" an Aquarian woman sitting at a station next to her asked.

"The only time anyone even acknowledges our existence is when something goes wrong," Emily explained despairingly, "and I haven't heard Queen Yamul is mad since the Crisis of the Sunny Kingdom."

"So, be afraid?" the aquatic human asked.

"Be very afraid," Emily replied.

* * *

Not long after Mother called the Cloud Management Room, the doors to the office slid open and Spigot slowly poked his head into the opening. "You bellowed?" he asked timidly.

"Yes," Mother said coolly. "Come in."

Spigot complied, walking into the office without a word. The smaller Beaver wrung his hands and kept his eyes shifting from side to side to prevent making eye contact with Mother. I could understand his anxiety. Although short by Human standards at a meter and a half, her powerful physique and booming voice make her naturally intimidating. I have experienced first hand how daunting facing her can be and did not envy him for being in the position he was.

"Can you explain this?" Mother asked as she handed him the message.

Spigot pulled a magnifying glass from his coat pocket and skimmed it. "What the hell," he exclaimed, "two days?"

"And that was written five days ago," Mother said with a distinct sharpness in her voice.

Spigot looked up to meet Mother's dark eyes glaring at him as she drummed her fingers on her desk. He gulped dryly. "Well, it isn't because of us," he protested. "The machine has been functioning perfectly."

"What do you suggest is causing it then-dane?" the messenger asked.

Spigot turned to the tiny man standing the desk. He narrowed his eyes and scowled at him. "It's a meteorological fluke," he stated. "A tragic fluke, but a fluke nonetheless. There's nothing to do except wait for it to blow over."

"We can't wait for it to blow over!" the messenger roared. "We're slowly drowning down there!"

"That's not my problem," Spigot shot back. "As your people should know by now, yelling at me won't change the weather. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a _perfectly functioning_ machine to attend to." He turned on his heels and stormed out of the room.

Mother heaved an exasperated sigh and massaged her temples. "As crudely as the chief engineer put it, he does have a point. Complaining won't solve anything. And, if the machine is working as it should, there's nothing we can do," she said despairingly.

I had stood there silently with Auler and Sophie, listening to the conversation. I kept looking to the messenger. He had clearly risked his life to bring this message to us. I did not want to believe there was nothing we could do for them. An idea suddenly came to me.

"Mother," I started to say.

"What, Milro?" Mother asked.

I paused before continuing. I have never felt comfortable demanding of Mother, no matter how inoffensive I was doing it. However, I found the courage to explain my idea. "Mother, perhaps we could do something for the people of the Tane-Tane Kingdom. If we can't stop the rain, perhaps we could help them protect their villages from the floodwater until it does blow over. We do have equipment we use to control flooding in our kingdom."

Mother bobbed her head in a gentle nod. "Excellent thinking."

I felt my heart leap in my chest.

"We'll need permission to take our equipment into their country," Mother said. She then looked at the paperwork covering her desk and sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm too buried with work." She glanced at me. "Why don't you go, Milro?"

"Me?" I exclaimed.

"I was about your age when I performed my first official duty for the country," she said. "This would be a perfect opportunity for you to get your feet wet in international relations if you forgive the pun. Think you're up to it?"

I was exuberant that Mother accepted my idea and wanted me to see it through. However, I hid my enthusiasm and replied with a simple nod and, "Yes."

"We can take you if you want," Auler suggested.

"It'd be our pleasure," Sophie added jubilantly.

"Thank you," I said gratefully.

* * *

On the other end of the enthusiasm spectrum, Spigot trudged back into the Cloud Management Room. The other engineers stopped what they were doing and turned to him. Spigot did not pay them any attention as he erased the "1,827" written on the white board labeled "Days Without Major Incident" near the door and drawing a large "0" in its place. The other engineers rose up in a din.

"Shut up!" Spigot shouted over the out burst.

"I told you this wouldn't be good," Emily announced.

"Chief, what's going on?" an engineer asked.

"There's flooding in the Tane-Tane Kingdom," Spigot grumbled.

"That's impossible," another engineer stated. "The machine has been working normally."

"Don't you think I know that?" Spigot said. "However, Queen Yamul is holding a letter that says the impossible has happened. It's been raining almost constantly down there for a week."

"WEEK!? the engineers exclaimed.

"Has anyone died?" an engineer added.

"They didn't say," Spigot answered.

"Why haven't we heard about this until now?" an engineer asked.

"Why, indeed?" Spigot growled, marching to his seat.

"And here we go." Emily rolled her eyes.

"Those morons in the Sunny Kingdom were supposed to keep us abreast of crap like this." Spigot jumped into his seat.

He punched a series of keys on his keyboard. The emblem of the Sunny Kingdom appeared on the main screen and quickly switched to the image of a Nyamal. Spigot was surprised to see the feline resident of the Sunny Kingdom and not the wrinkled, gray dwarf who headed their operations. "Where's Omendo?" he asked.

"Administrator Omendo is sick with the flu," the Siamese cat-like Nyamal replied nonchalantly. "My name is Kahn and I'm running things here in his stead."

"Alright," Spigot said. "You can answer my question."

"That would be?" Kahn asked.

Spigot shoved his face into his camera and bellowed. "WHAT IN HELL IS GOING ON IN THE TANE-TANE KINGDOM!?"

With a feline screech, Kahn jumped from his chair and grabbed onto its back, digging in with his claws. "There's no reason to yell," he shouted back. He fell back into his seat and straightened his coat and hat. "We're aware of the situation," he said more calmly.

"Why weren't we informed?" Spigot asked, sitting back in his seat. "I thought we had an agreement after the Crisis we'd be informed of any weather anomalies."

Khan took out a cloth and removed his glasses to clean the small, rough lenses. "We do," he said. "However, we believe what is happening in the Tane-Tane Kingdom is a natural phenomenon."

"It's been raining there for a week," Spigot exclaimed. "How can you call that natural?"

Khan replaced his glasses in front of his eyes. "That's our call to make, not yours," he replied flatly.

"I don't believe this," Spigot snarled. "You're splitting hairs just to keep us out of the loop. You…"

Khan put an end to the conversation by closing the channel. The screen went back to the emblem of the Sunny Kingdom with message "End Transmission" over it.

"KHAAAAN!!!" Spigot screamed at the screamed.

"You know, Chief," Emily spoke up, "there's a saying that you can gather more flies with honey than with vinegar."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Spigot snarled through his clenched teeth.

Emily scowled at her superior. "Frank, hold him."

"Okay, Emily." Another Beaver grabbed Spigot from his chair and held him by his arms.

Emily jumped into Spigot's chair and hailed the Sunny Kingdom. As she waited for the transmission to make it through, she licked her hand and ran it through her hair.

"This aught to good," an engineer joked.

Khan's face appeared on the screen again. "Now what?" the Nyamal barked.

"Hi, Sugar," Emily said tenderly, exaggerating her drawl. "I just wanted to apologize for our chief's behavior."

"Let go of me, Franklin," Spigot growled as he struggled to get free.

"I said hold him," Emily barked at the two.

"I'm trying," Franklin whined, "but he's slipperier than a greased eel."

She turned back Khan. "He doesn't like nasty surprises so early in the morning. After a cup or two of Joe, and about a half dozen tranquilizers," she said the last part more to herself, "he should be fine. In the meantime, could you be a dear and give us all information related to what's happening in the Tane-Tane Kingdom for li'l old me." She finished by batting her eyes.

"No," Khan stated flatly.

"What?" Emily exclaimed.

"You suck," an engineer shouted.

"Shut up," Emily shot back.

"Quit wasting my time." Khan closed the channel again.

Spigot finally wrenched himself out of Franklin's hold. "I saw that coming."

"You know," Franklin thought out loud in a low, plodding voice, "for a country that lights the world, the Sunny Kingdom sure likes to keep people in the dark."

"They've always been that way," Spigot grumbled. "Five years ago they knew the _Blessing of the Sun_ was dying, but kept it to themselves. They let us take the political fallout because it resulted in a general drought. Now it's happening all over again only with flooding."

A suffocating silence fell over the room. Finally, an engineer asked, "what should we do?"

"Uh…" Spigot exhaled as he pondered. "We can do a full system check to see if there isn't some obscure glitch we've missed. I doubt it, but you never know. Beyond that, there's nothing we can do but monitor the situation."

A set of chimes came from Spigot's station. Emily hit the flashing key and answered, "Cloud Management Room."

"Is Spigot there?" Mother asked through the speaker.

"I'm here," Spigot replied as he walked up to the station.

"I want you back down in my office immediately," Mother ordered.

Spigot raised a confused eyebrow to Emily who only shrugged in response. "I'll be right down," he said.

"I wonder what it could be now," he thought out loud.

"Knowing our luck," Franklin said, "it's a hailstorm in the Jewelry Kingdom."

"Thank you for the brilliant ray of sunshine, Franklin," Spigot growled. "The next I feel like being depressed, I'll call you."

He stormed back to the door. "I'm up here and they call me down there. Then I'm back up here and they want me down there again," he growled. "I'm starting to feel like a freaking yo-yo."

"And here I had such high hopes for the day," Emily said to herself.

* * *

"So good of you to join us again," Mother greeted Spigot as he walked back into her office.

"What is it now?" Spigot asked, trying to hide the frustration in his voice.

"Milro has come up with a proposal to assist the Tane-Tane Kingdom," Yamul explained. "We can use our flood control equipment to protect their villages. She will be heading down with Prince Auler and Princess Sophie to ask for permission from King King."

"Biba," Spigot cheered unenthusiastically and weakly pumped his fist in the air, "knock yourselves out. What does this have to do with me?"

"You'll be going with them," Mother stated.

"With all due respect, Queen Yamul, I'm an engineer, not a steward," Spigot said in response.

"As Chief Engineer of our operations, you're best suited to explain our intentions," Mother said.

"I'm not a diplomat either!" Spigot exclaimed. "I'm obnoxious and disliked. I have more enemies in the Tane-Tane Kingdom than I care to count."

"Then you should see this as an opportunity," Mother said coolly. "It'll give you a chance to mend some of the bridges you've burned over the years and work on their confrontational attitude of yours. You're going, Spigot, and that's final."

Spigot opened his mouth to object. However, he could find nothing to say. He instead saluted. "Yes, Queen Yamul," he complied.


	2. Chapter 2: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Chapter 2: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

We boarded Auler's personal zeppelin and left for the Tane-Tane Kingdom. It was once we were in the air that I realized the gravity of the situation I had put myself in. I was going to be representing the Drop Kingdom in an official capacity for the first time. My stomach suddenly felt like it was full of butterflies as we leveled off and flew to the south.

I tried to put it out of my mind by taking in the view. From the air, we could see for kilometers and even notice the surface curve up with distance. I watched as the seasons seemed to change below us. Saginaw City was still locked in the last vestiges of winter with the deciduous trees still bare and piles of dirty snow on the dormant grass, but, as we were carried south by the wind, the foliage became green and lush.

A stray gust blew one of Auler's floppy ears across his face. He flicked it back and shivered from the sudden blast of cold air. "Yours is a cold country," he chattered.

"We are about as far from the Mera-Mera Kingdom as dry land gets," I replied. "I guess we're just use to it."

I returned my attention to the view. Unconsciously, I had been watching the clouds too. They were leaving castle normally and expanded to incredible size as they drifted lazily to the south like they should.

"I'm guessing you were right, Mr. Spigot" I said.

I turned to the chief to find him like was when we took off. He was sitting in the back of the hull, glaring at some invisible object. I almost expected a tiny storm cloud to fly up and start raining over his head.

"Mr. Spigot?" I repeated.

He blinked and left his glare. "Excuse me?" he asked, still not fully back to reality.

"I said I guess you were right," I said again. "The clouds seem normal so far."

"They soon won't be," Auler interjected.

"What were you thinking about?" Sophie asked.

"I was just thinking how far we had come since the Crisis," Spigot answered dully. "It seems we spent these five years just to get knocked on our tails again."

"You were exaggerating the problems between your country and the Tane-Tane Kingdom, right?" Auler asked.

"I wish I was," Spigot said. "The feud between the Drop Kingdom and the Tane-Tane Kingdom makes the rivalry between your country and the Jewelry Kingdom look like a lover's quarrel in comparison. We just kept out of the public eye."

He then turned to me. "You should expect the people of the Tane-Tane Kingdom to refuse our help, Princess Milro," he said flatly.

"Why?" I asked, taken aback by his statement.

"Because they'd rather drown than accept help from the Drop Kingdom," Spigot stated.

"Speaking of the Tane-Tane Kingdom," Auler said dully, "we're approaching it."

I had taken my eyes off the clouds just long enough for them to undergo a radical change. They were flattening and congealing. Ahead of us, they had merged into a wall of water droplets that stretched as far as we could see in either direction.

I gasped at the sight. "My word, would you look at that."

Spigot looked up at the foreboding weather ahead. "It's a sign saying 'Welcome to Persona Hell'," he groaned.

We passed under the clouds and the weather suddenly changed. The air had been growing milder, but turned sharply colder once the _Blessing of the Sun_ disappeared. It was not like the crisp and refreshing coolness surrounding our capital. It was a soggy chill that tried to rip the heat from us. We wrapped ponchos around ourselves to try to keep out the cold wind.

The landscape seemed washed out under the blanket of drab and the rain and fog made it hard to see much farther than a kilometer or two. The Tane-Tane Kingdom was usually such a vibrant and colorful kingdom. Seeing it dimly lit and drenched was disheartening and I felt the apprehension return.

Eventually, the colossal silhouette of Mother Tree emerged from the veil of rain and mist. The massive tree rose high over the surrounding landscape and the villages dotting the plain. There was also a gaping body of water cutting through the countryside near it.

Auler looked down at the turbulent water we were flying over and shuddered.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him.

"Auler doesn't like water," Sophie said.

"Yeah," Auler said uneasily.

I looked down at the water again. "I don't remember there being a lake near the Mother Tree," I thought out loud.

"That's not a lake," Spigot said dully, "that's the river."

I gasped when he said this. The gentle river that meandered near the Mother Tree had swelled into a torrent. The fields that would be filled with sprouting plants were submerged and villages once well away from the water's edge were on the verge of being swallowed by the muddy water.

It all seemed too big, especially when I thought that the whole country must be like this. I began to wonder if we could help the Tane-Tane Kingdom save their villages from the water that was consuming hectare after soaked hectare in its dauntless advance. Just as I felt hope fading, a hand rested gently on my shoulder. I looked up and saw it was Sophie.

"Don't give up hope," she said in her gentle voice. "We're here to help them avoid disaster. We need to be strong for them."

I smiled weakly and nodded. "You're right."

Auler brought us around the massive trunk of the Mother Tree and released gas from the cigar shaped envelope suspended above us until the zeppelin set down. Spigot was the first to hop out and planted his webbed feet in the mud.

As depressing as things seemed from the air, it was a demoralizing experience on the ground. We could smell the musk or mold and mildew hanging in the air. The entire country was starting to rot from being wet constantly. We could also see that residents of a nearby village were building a wall of sandbags between their homes and the rising water. It was hard to comprehend they had been at this for a week.

As we climbed out of the zeppelin, the doors in the trunk near us opened. The eleven Tane-Tane Princesses and their brother, Solo, filed out. "Milro, Auler, Sophie," the baby blue haired and de facto leader of the sisters, Ichele, started to say before her ten almost identical sisters joined in saying, "welcome to the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

"At least, we wish we could say 'welcome'," the blond-haired Harney said despairingly. "However, that's usually a greeting for when times are good."

The twelve siblings looked out at the flooding, drab, and steady rain. "There certainly aren't any good times here," Solo said dully.

"That's why we're here," Sophie piped up. "We've come to help."

"I bet," someone spat.

"No, oh," Spigot groaned as he seemed to recognize the voice.

The voice belonged to a Molmo who had emerged from the Mother Tree. The mole-like resident of the Tane-Tane Kingdom practically swaggered as he walked around his princesses and prince and came to stand in front of Spigot. Spigot simply scowled at him in response.

"Why are you here, Spiggy?" The chocolate brown-furred Molmo broke the uneasy silence. "Can't you see our skies are dark enough?"

"Who's this?" Auler whispered to Spigot.

"Remember how I said I have more enemies down here than I care to count?" Spigot replied in a hushed tone. "This is the Big Kahuna of them all, Axe."

"Milro has a plan to help you deal with the flooding," Sophie explained. "Isn't that right?"

"Uh…yes," I started to say.

"Heh, I bet," Axe scoffed.

"Just shut up and take us to His Royal Shortiness," Spigot growled.

"Come with me," Axe said and led us into the Mother Tree.

I had never been in the Mother Tree before. We entered through the doors into a hall. It was dim with luminescent mushrooms growing from the walls and ceiling as the only source of light and cramped for us as even I had to duck to keep from hitting my head on the ceiling.

I felt lost in the network of dark passageways and chambers carved into the trunk, but Spigot seemed to know the way all too well. He was walking abreast with Axe and the two frequently shot indigent glares at one another. Fortunately, we reached the audience chamber and the two disengaged before anything more came of it.

The audience chamber was crowded with Tane-Tane people and Molmo. Most were standing on the floor, but there was also a balcony filled with the tiny denizens of the country at about the height of my knees. I felt like a giant as I walked in and could finally stand up straight and see more clearly in the better light.

"I can hold your ponchos," a Molmo maid said and took our raingear as we removed it.

"Baxter," a maid called out as the messenger walked into the room. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around the mud caked man. He returned her hug as she cried tears of joy.

I smiled warmly upon seeing this. It felt good to see Baxter was home again after such a harrowing ordeal and with loved ones. I hoped it was a good sign of things to come.

King was seated on this thrown with his signature crown that is taller than he is adorning his head. When we entered, he stood up and struck the floor with the butt of his staff to signal an end to the conversations scattered about the room. Everyone complied and the room fell into silence.

Spigot removed his hat and bowed to King. "Greetings, King King," he said graciously, "I am Spigot, chief engineer for the _Machine of the Drop Kingdom_. I believe you know the prince and princesses."

Auler bowed and Sophie and I curtsied.

"Greetings-dane," King replied. "I see you've received our message-dane. Are you here to tell us the rain will be stopping soon-dane?"

"Uh…no," Spigot said. He was met immediately by a wave of angry yelling from the crowd. "Now hear me out!" he shouted them all into silence. "Whatever is happening in your country is not being caused by our cloud making equipment. However, we can help protect your villages from the rising floodwater."

"How-dane?" King asked.

"Our country has technology we use to move water in great quantities," Spigot explained. "We can use it to divert the water away from your population centers. With your permission, we can start as early as this evening."

The crowd erupted into cheers. I felt like a burden had been lifted from my chest as the sound of their celebration. It seemed like my first mission would end well.

"What about our fields?" someone shouted angrily from the crowd. Everyone turned to see it was a woman in the balcony. "We don't want your charity. We want to get back to work. Your country makes the rain, so stop it."

"It's not that simple," Spigot stated. "There are literally a hundred factors causing the weather out there and the vast majority of them are things we have absolutely no control over. I know this isn't what you wanted, but it's the best we can do."

Some hushed murmurs rose from the crowd.

"What do you expect as to do in the meantime?" the woman shouted.

"She's right," Axe interjected. "This is our country. Do you expect as to just side by idly?"

"Ah," Spigot exhaled. "The old Tane-Tane Kingdom pride finally rears its ugly head. It's the Crisis of the Sunny Kingdom all over again."

"This wouldn't have happened if you did your job," Axe growled.

"That's it," Spigot snarled. He grabbed the Molmo by the jacket and tackled him into the wall to the cheers and hollers of the crowd.

"ENOUGH-DANE!!!" King roared and slammed his staff on the floor. "I will not have this in my audience chamber-dane. We're all civilized people here-dane. Let's act like it-dane."

The crowd was silenced for a few seconds. However, the din arose again as people argued over whether or not to accept our help. I felt helpless in the uproar as everything was unraveling and I did not know how to stop it.

"Please," I tried to explain, "You have to understand there's nothing we can do."

It was then I felt the strangest sensation. It felt like some king of energy come over me like the mist off a crashing wave. It was delicate but seemed to permeate my entire body.

I looked up and noticed the raindrop-shaped ornament at the top of Spigot's hat was my eye level. It was then above my head a split second later. I looked around and saw the entire room and everything in it was growing larger or, more precisely, I was shrinking.

I was so terrified I could not even scream. I could only watch as I found myself as tall as Spigot and then shorter than he was. I wondered if it would ever stop and how small I would be when it did.

Finally, the energy disappeared as mysteriously as it came and I stopped shrinking. I looked around me and saw that I was no bigger than a Tane-Tane person. The crowd was silent as they all stared at me.

"Milro," Auler called out. I swung around to see he and Sophie had also shrunk. "What just happened?" he asked in a panicked tone.

"I don't know," I replied helplessly.

* * * * *

"Woe, woe, woe," Nalro interrupted.

"What?" Milro asked having reached the picture of her looking up at the now huge Spigot.

"You were shrunk?" Nalro asked in disbelief.

Milro nodded. "Yes," she said and held up her hands so there was about ten centimeters of vertical space between them. "We were about that big."

"This is getting very fairytale," Nalro grumbled. "And, I'd like to know when these Weather-Makers come in."

"You just have to wait and see," Milro said. "Of course, I could stop if you're bored."

"No," Nalro said. "I'm good."

A screwed up grin crept onto his face. "How did Spigot take it?" he asked.

Milro smirked slightly. "How do you think?"

* * * * *

"Fine, then." Spigot, who now towered over us, shoved his muzzle into Axe's snout and jabbed the Molmo's chest with his index finger. "If you're pride is so important to you, you can take it to your watery grave. It's no fur off my back. But I'm not going to stand here and be insulted."

He turned to where we were standing. "Princess Milro, we're leaving," he stated in a huff.

However, we were not there.

"Huh?" he exclaimed. "Princess Milro, Prince Auler, Princess Sophie, where did you go?"

"We're down here," I called out.

He looked down to us. "Oh," he said casually, "there you are. For a second…" He stopped in mid-sentence when it hit him. After a split second of awkward silence he screamed, "OH MY GOD!!!"

His eyes rolled back in his head and he started to fall backwards. I screwed my eyes shut and folded my ears over in preparation for him to fall. Fall he did with a loud thud and the floor shook from the impact. I slowly opened one eye and lifted one ear when everything went quiet to see him passed out in front of me.

Axe got out a bottle of smelling salts and held them under Spigot's nose. He regained consciousness and slowly sat up. "Get that crap out of my face," he grumbled and pushed the bottle away.

"Oh boy," he groaned as he sat up. "I just had the worst nightmare. I went down to the Tane-Tane Kingdom and Princess Milro was shrunk down to…" He stopped in mid-sentence when his eyes fell on me. "Damn," he groaned.

"Uh…" King started. "Can we talk about this in private-dane?"

King led us to the observation tower at the very top of the Mother Tree. The trip through the winding passageway and back outside was eerily silent as Spigot and Axe did not even look at each other on the way. We entered the small, wooden building which was filled with sprouts in pots sitting on the floor and shelves. There were also several workers who were tending them or doing other tasks. They all disembarked when King ordered, "leave the room."

Spigot waited until they had all left and closed the door behind them to speak. "Alright, King King," he said with a noticeable growl to his voice, "this had better be good."

"Define 'good'-dane," King said despairingly. "I'm afraid and the prince and princesses have been cursed by the Mother Tree."

"Cursed?" we all gasped.

"Cursed? Cursed!?" Spigot snarled. "You have no idea what cursing is, but I'll gladly give you a lesson in the next thirty second if they're not returned to normal size."

"You don't understand-dane," King exclaimed. "This confirms my worst fears."

"What is that, Father," Harney asked.

"Since the rains started, the Mother Tree has stopped producing seeds," King explained gravely. "I believe she is not getting enough sunlight."

"Stratiform does have a very high albedo," Spigot thought out loud. "I'd imagine much the sunlight cast on the Tane-Tane Kingdom is being reflected back."

King nodded. "Even if you could protect our villages from the flooding, without the sun, our country is dead. When you said you could stop the rain, the Mother Tree was angered and so she cursed them."

"Then undo it," Spigot commanded.

King shook his head. "I'm afraid the Mother Tree is the only thing that can remove the curse. Also, if the curse is not lifted by dawn tomorrow, it becomes permanent."

We all gasped upon hearing this.

"How can we convince the Mother Tree?" I asked.

"You have to stop the rain and bring back the sun," King answered bluntly.

"Are you insane?" Spigot exclaimed. "I'm an engineer, not a warlock. When I said I can't stop the rain, I mean I literally can't stop the rain."

"Then I'm afraid these three will be like this forever," King said flatly.

There was nothing to discuss after that. Spigot asked for a crate and, when we came out of the main entrance to the Mother Tree, a wooden crate was waiting for us. Spigot threw his shoulder into the large box and began shoving it through the mud.

"You know," he groaned, "this is why I never became a humanitarian. My grandfather always said, 'No good deed goes unpunished'."

"What an enchanted world you live in," Axe commented as he watched Spigot push the crate towards Auler's zeppelin.

"Shut up," Spigot shot back.

"Well," Axe said with a shrug, "have fun explaining this one to Queen Yamul." He laughed loudly as he walked back into the Mother Tree.

Spigot growled and made an inappropriate, one-fingered gesture in Axe's general direction. He then went back to shoving the crate.

I turned my attention to the surrounding area. The villagers were still building their wall of sandbags and water was edging ever closer. Above us, the dreary, gray clouds sat like a blanket over the sky and dropped a not particularly heavy, but constant rain.

I heaved a depressed sigh as I tried to take it all in. It was disheartening to see at normal size, but it now seemed overwhelming.

"I'm sorry I brought you two into this," I said to Auler and Sophie.

"Don't blame yourself," Auler said in a comforting voice. "We volunteered to come."

"I wonder if Fine and Rein could help us stop the rain," Sophie thought out loud.

"No!" Spigot interjected when he heard her. "There's no way in Hell I'm letting the most unprincess-like princesses in the history of the Wonder Planet anywhere near this situation."

* * *

At that moment, somewhere in the Sunny Kingdom, Fine and Rein sneezed loudly.

* * *

"They'd probably just make things worse." He lifted the crate over his head and dropped into the hull in front of the controls. "Besides, I'll be damned if I ever asked the Sunny Kingdom for help," he added.

"Please, Mr. Spigot," I pleaded. "Look at these people. They're suffering. There has to be something someone can do for them."

Spigot looked out at the flooding and the people toiling to protect their homes. He furrowed his brow as if he was trying to find an argument, but sighed in defeat. "Alright," he finally said, "I might come regret this, but I know someone who can figure this stuff out." He took a communicator from his pocket and flipped it open.

* * *

Back in at the castle, the engineers were finishing up their system check of the machine. The Cloud Management Room, which had been quiet before, was abuzz with activity. Every station was manned and several more engineers were examining the displays in bulkheads on the machine itself.

"We've checked everything," Franklin reported to Emily. "From the intake tunnels to the distributor, it's all in working order. We also checked the solar cells, electrolysis tanks, castle's power grid, and the computer system. Everything is working as it should."

"Yet the Tane-Tane Kingdom is being flooded," Emily thought out loud as she closed the bulkhead.

A blond half-Beaver emerged from the machine room below.

"Has the physical inspection turned up anything?" Emily asked her.

"Well, we've discovered some engineers have a very nasty habit." The young woman presented a jar full of chewed up pieces of gum.

Emily stuck her tongue out in disgust at the jar of brightly colored wads. "Anything related to what's happening in the Tane-Tane Kingdom," she clarified.

"Everything's working fine down there," the half-Beaver said.

"Alright," Emily said, "dismissed." She turned to back to Franklin. "Well, it's not us."

"Then what's causing it?" Franklin asked.

Before Emily could answer, chimes started to come from her communicator. She took it out and flipped it open. "This is Emily," she answered.

"This is Spigot," Spigot replied. "What's the situation with the machine?"

"Everything checks out," Emily answered proudly. "It's all in perfect working order."

"Damn," Spigot mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Emily asked.

"I mean good," Spigot said hastily. "Damn good. Keep up the good work."

"How are things going down in the Tane-Tane Kingdom?" Emily asked.

"Uh…" Spigot looked back to us. "We ran into a 'small problem' down here. They won't be satisfied until the rain stops."

"Did you explain we can't do that?"

"Yes, but they made an offer I can't refuse," Spigot answered. "Listen, I need to know where Dr. Vince Cooper is at the moment."

"I'll check." Emily walked over to a station punched up the personnel files. She quickly found the man in question. "According to his file, he's heading the meteorology outpost on Snow Mountain."

"Alright, we'll be heading there," Spigot said. "I want you and Franklin to meet us there."

"We'll leave immediately," Emily said.

"Spigot out," Spigot said as he closed the communicator and replaced it to his pocket.


	3. Chapter 3: Meteorologists on Ice

Chapter 3: Meteorologists on Ice

Tammy had taken the opportunity to get a nap in during the lull in the late morning. She was asleep on a couch in the hall and oblivious to Bret creeping up on her. He filled the large Beaver woman's hand with foaming shaving cream and took out a feather.

He delicately tickled her nose, causing it to wrinkle and twitch. She finally smacked her face with the foam filled hand, covering it with shaving cream. The flame red-haired half-Beaver pulled in his fist and cheered "yeah," under his breath before walking briskly away.

Tammy woke up after a couple seconds and blinked her eyes open. She wiped the shaving cream away from her eye and examined the wad of foam in her hand. She bared her teeth at it and roared, "BREEEEEEEEEEEETT!!!" so loudly everyone else in the outpost heard her, "you weasel in Beaver's clothing!"

* * *

Snow Mountain is the highest peak in the Wonder Planet. The broad summit rises more than two kilometers over the shell and is locked in a constant state of winter. Clouds often obscure the snow capped crag and the temperature almost never reaches above freezing.

We were finding out all too well how cold these altitudes were as we made our approach. Auler, Sophie, and I had wrapped ourselves in an edge of a blanket to try to stay warm. The cold, thin air burned our throats at first before we became accustomed to it. Even Spigot, with his fur coat and uniform, periodically shivered.

"We're approaching Snow Mountain," Spigot reported, teething chattering slightly.

We left the blanket which was not helping much and climbed the crate to see out. Ahead of us was the flat, white snowfield of the summit. Scattered across it were what looked like hairy snowballs until we could tell they were moving.

"What are those?" Sophie asked.

Spigot craned his neck to look down. "It's 'who are they?' actually," he said. "They're called Monjara and live on the mountain. The summit is actually a huge crater lake and they harvest ice and uma-uma fish from it."

As we drifted over the summit, we saw more Monjara, the large yaks they raise, and their villages of igloos. We also saw patches of open water where they were cutting away the ice and pulling fish as big as they were from the dark water.

Near the center of the snowfield was a hump in the plain of white. There were a few non-igloo buildings nestled on it along with long, narrow strips where the snow had been made rough. Guessing this was the outpost we were looking for, Spigot began releasing gas and lowering our altitude.

We set down in front of the central building. Next to us was a sign stating "Snow Mountain Meteorology Outpost" above a tongue-in-cheek local forecast saying today, tonight, and the extended will all be cold. The emblem of our country was also painted on the front of all the buildings making up the small compound, suggesting this was the place.

Auler looked around. "What a desolate place," he thought out loud.

Sophie and I looked around and could not disagree.

The area around the bulge was an empty plain of white. The wind moaned and blew loose snow in waves as it passed over the summit. The air smelled sterile and the cold was biting. The nothingness seemed all the more bleak when I thought of how vibrant most of the regions of our country are.

The compound itself did not seem much more welcoming. The buildings were half buried in snow and rime ice coated the exposed walls and poles holding instruments above them. I could not imagine anyone wanting to live in such a place.

"It might not look like much," Spigot said as he shut down the engine, "but this is a vital research facility."

He jumped out of the airship and sank into the snow up to his waist. We followed by sliding down one of the stabilizers. I feared we'd disappear into the snow at the bottom, but we stepped onto the soft powder and could stand on top of it easily.

"We must be so light it can support our weight," Sophie commented.

"I wish I could say the same," Spigot grumbled as he pulled himself out and dusted the snow off his coat and slacks.

* * *

"There you are, you mullet-haired creep," Tammy growled as she lumbered into the reception area.

Bret and Arlene both turned to her as she came to stand in front of them. Tammy's face was covered in white smears where the shaving cream was still stuck in her beige fur after she tried to wash it out. Arlene tried to keep from laughing, but the raven-haired half-Beaver ended up wheezing a couple spurts of laughter.

"Yeah, laugh it up," Tammy growled.

"Seriously, Bret," Arlene said as she got control of herself again, "you've got to stop."

Ophelia came in when she heard the commotion. The cerulean-haired Aquarian took one look at Tammy and scowled. "Seriously, Bret, when are you going to grow up?" she scolded.

"I can't help it," Bret whined. "I'm bored out of my skull here. I'm a pilot stationed at the base where they hold the most advanced aircraft in the Wonder Planet, and they don't let me fly it. It's Hell, I tell you."

"Hell is having to put up with you for a year," Tammy snarled.

Bret backed up as she took a step towards him. He then noticed Lee walking by. "Hey, Lee, help," he called out. "I'm drowning in estrogen over here."

Ophelia's twin brother looked up from his clipboard at the group. "I'm not getting involved in this."

"Oh, come on," Bret pleaded. "Throw me a bone here."

Everything came to a stop when the outer door opened. We walked into the entrance area and the cozy, still warmth of the indoors. Spigot punched in his code in the keypad next to the inner door so he could open it and we could enter the reception area.

My attention immediately turned to the group in the reception area. They were all dressed in engineer's uniforms except for Arlene who wore the blue, sailor-style dress worn by our country's stewardesses. I was surprised to see they were all so young. When Spigot said it was scientific outpost, I expected the people manning it to be around his age. However, these five were in their mid-teens to maybe early twenties.

They all stared, dumbstruck, at Auler, Sophie, and me as we came in. I could not blame them for their shock as I still found it hard to believe myself.

After an awkward moment of silence, Bret finally found words. "Okay," he said uneasily. "I honestly did not see this coming."

"No kidding," Tammy said in disbelief.

"Don't you five have better things to do?" Spigot growled.

"Uh...yeah." The four engineers quickly dispersed from the reception area into other parts of the outpost. The only one left was Arlene who was sitting at the computer behind the reception desk. She tried to keep her dark brown eyes facing the screen of her computer, but they periodically drifted towards us.

"Tell Vince Jerry is here," Spigot ordered.

"Right," Arlene replied stiffly. After second's pause, she asked, "can I ask…"

"No. You may not," Spigot said bluntly, cutting her off. "Where is his office?"

"Last door on the left down that hall," Arlene instructed, pointing down the hall directly behind her.

"Thank you," I said graciously.

"You're…welcome," Arlene said uneasily as she watched us walk in the direction she pointed.

She pressed a button on a pad in her desk. "Dr. Cooper," she said into the speaker, "Chief Spigot is here, and you're not going believe what he has with him."

Despite the unwelcoming, utilitarian appearance of the outpost's exterior, the interior was as friendly and cozy as the warm air expelling from the vents. It reminded me of the interior of our castle. The walls and ceiling of the long hall Arlene directed us down were cream-colored and met with a gentle curve instead of at an angle, making it bright and seem more open. There was also potted ferns sitting on tables and hanging from the ceiling to add to the welcoming atmosphere.

We came to the door at the end of the hall. Its only decoration was a black plaque with the words "Vince Cooper Ph.D." printed on it in bold, white letters. Spigot gave a quick knock and a voice replied "enter" from the other side.

Beyond the door was a small, dimly lit office. Unlike mother's, it was crowded with furniture and furnishings and had only one, small window that was covered by heavy curtains. One entire wall was nothing but shelves of books and a large sofa sat opposite to a stained oak desk cluttered by a lamp, computer and other objects.

Sitting behind the desk was who I assumed was Dr. Cooper. He was an older Beaver about the same size as mother and wearing an engineer's uniform like most of his subordinates. The first thing that caught my attention about him was that his left arm was in a sling under his coat.

"Welcome to my secret lair, Jerry," Cooper said boisterously.

"It's good to see you again," Spigot replied with enthusiasm I had not heard in his voice all day. He then patted his left arm. "What happened?"

"This?" Cooper asked and pointed to his restrained arm. "I fell off the roof while we were clearing lime ice off the solar panels. It should be fine in a couple weeks." He then turned to us. "Besides, you seem to have much bigger problems than I do..." He exhaled a laugh. "…if you'll forgive the pun."

Outside, the others had gathered on the other side of the door. Lee held a stethoscope to the door to try to listen. However, he found himself squashed against the wooden plank as Tammy leaned against it.

"What are they talking about?" she asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Lee wheezed, "but I can't from between your…endowments."

"Sorry." Tammy backed away so Lee could go back to listening.

"This is not good," Ophelia fretted.

"Perhaps we should look on the bright side," Bret suggested.

"There's a bright side?" the others asked in unison.

"Well," Bret pondered aloud, "Prince Pump now has a kid shorter than him again."

The others fell over in shock. Tammy quickly recovered and slapped him upside the head so hard it knocked his hat off.

"Ow!" Bret exclaimed. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Because you're being an idiot," Tammy growled.

"Shut up," Lee snapped. "I'm trying to eavesdrop here."

"What are they saying?" Ophelia asked.

"They're talking about flooding in the Tane-Tane Kingdom," Lee reported. "It's been raining constantly down there for more than a week."

"What?" the others exclaimed, managing to keep their voices hushed.

"I'm insulted as a meteorologist," Ophelia said to herself. "A major weather event like that, and we just find out about it now through hearsay."

"It doesn't help we can only monitor the weather of the Drop Kingdom," Tammy said.

Lee shushed them as he continued to listen. "The rain isn't being caused by our machinery, so we have no means to stopping it. They went down to the Tane-Tane Kingdom to offer aid, but the Mother Tree got mad that they couldn't stop the rain and shrank Princess Milro and the prince and princess of the Windmill Kingdom."

"Oh great," Tammy groaned. "This just had to include magic."

Inside, Cooper nodded as Spigot explained what happened. "You've gotten yourself into quite a jam, Jerry," he said. "However, I don't see how I can help you."

"I don't really know myself," Spigot admitted. He exhaled an extended breath, like a deflating balloon. "The truth is: I have nowhere else to turn. The machine is working fine, so my expertise is of no use here. If this is meteorological, you're the Drop Kingdom's leading mind in the field. My only other option is to return to Saginaw City with them like this and face the music from Queen Yamul."

"The weather is the weather." Cooper shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it. The meteorology bureau observes and analyzes weather conditions, we don't control it." He coughed a laugh. "I wish we did sometimes."

I listened to this conversation and felt my heart sink. I could not stop thinking of the people the Tane-Tane Kingdom. I thought of the messenger, the heckler, Axe, and King and his family. I realized they all had the same tired, defeated look in their eyes. They had given up hope. Axe and heckler had tried mask it with anger and the royal family was trying to keep it from the people, however, their eyes betrayed that they had conceded to the rain.

"Please," I asked in a very small voice, "you haven't seen what it's like down there. The people of the Tane-Tane Kingdom are at the end of their rope. Their country is slowly rotting and dying under the constant rain and they feel powerless against it. They need something, anything."

Cooper drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair and pondered. "Alright," he conceded, "I can't argue with that. All my resources are at your disposal."

"What can you do?" I asked eagerly.

"We could find the cause for the rain and through it determine the duration," Cooper explained. "It's not the instant fix they want, but it'll give them an end to look forward to. However, the range of my instruments ends at the border," he added. "Even the data out of the southern regions is sketchy at times."

"You didn't let a little thing like a border stop you during the Crisis," Spigot said in response.

"You're not suggesting we put _that_ into service again, are you?" Cooper shot back.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Spigot said plainly.

"What about the Sunny Kingdom?" Cooper asked.

"They've refused to help," Spigot answered, "as usual."

"Wait," Auler interjected. "What are you two talking about?"

"Back during the crisis, the equipment of our countries was malfunctioning in response to the _Blessing of the Sun_ dying," Cooper explained. "However, we weren't privy to that fact and were trying to find the cause. Spigot is suggesting that we use the equipment we used then now to find out what's causing the rain over the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

"We should get started then," Spigot said as he turned to the door. "We have very little time. We need to round up a crew and prep it for launch."

"The crew is already here for the most part," Vince replied.

Spigot stopped dead in his tracks. "You don't mean them, do you?" he snapped. "They're children."

"They're prodigies," Cooper corrected as he stood up. "They're the cream of the crop of the new engineers entering the corps. The Glauca twins, for example, are geniuses. They turn seventeen next month and yet both already hold a bachelor degree in atmosphere science." He walked towards the door and grasped the knob. "They're gifted and talented beyond their years and have bright futures ahead of them."

He opened the door and the five fell into the room.

"You were saying," Spigot grumbled.

Cooper cleared his throat and they promptly got to their feet and lined up. "Spigot has asked we reactivate the _Hurricane_," he said.

"Yes," Bret cheered under his breath and pulled his fist in.

"Don't we need eleven people?" Ophelia asked.

"We only have one pilot, two meteorologists, a payload expert, and a mission commander" Lee added. "We still need a co-pilot, navigator, an in-flight engineer, another meteorologist, and two technicians."

"I see you've studied the old manifest," Cooper replied. "You two will have to double as co-pilots with the other analyzing the data. Also, I will not be coming along to serve as mission commander."

"You're not coming?" Spigot exclaimed.

"I'm nursing this arm and we need at least two people here to hold down the fort here," Cooper replied. "You'll be serving as M.C., Jerry."

"I don't know a thing about meteorology," Spigot exclaimed.

"You've already been there," Cooper replied calmly. "Besides, I'll be a radio call away."

"All we really need are an in-flight engineer and a technician for a skeleton crew," Bret added.

"They should get here soon," Spigot said in response.

"I'm still confused," Auler said, scratching his head. "What's a hurricane?"

"It would be better if we showed you," Cooper replied.

He took us through a tunnel to another one of the buildings. It looked like the inside of a giant, corrugated pipe with lights strung from the ceiling down its length. It was noticeably cooler in the tunnel than in the actual building and I could hear the moan of the wind outside. Still, I was glad we did not have to go back out into it.

"Because we didn't know the _Blessing of the Sun_ was dying," Cooper explained, "we thought the cause of our malfunctions was in the atmosphere. The Sunny Kingdom didn't release their data on the weather, so we started studying ourselves. We tracked atmospheric conditions with ground-based instruments and launched balloons carrying instruments to gather information on the upper atmosphere.

"Still, it wasn't enough. We were only gathering data over the Drop Kingdom and getting part of the picture. That's when we decided to use aircraft to gather data.

"Our original plan was to use the Stingray-class flying submarines, but they're meant for intrastate work. Between their small size and limited range, they couldn't operate too far from our borders, especially carrying all of the instruments we wanted to use. That's when we developed the _Hurricane_."

We reached the end of the tunnel and Bret and Lee pushed the heavy, metal doors open. It led out into an expansive hangar. It was not any warmer than the tunnel and I could still hear the moan. It held one aircraft, but it was one impressive machine.

The fixed-wing airship was easily the largest I had ever seen. The long, cylindrical body tapered to a point in the rear where its large vertical stabilizer and smaller horizontal stabilizers were attacked. The broad wings were attached at the bottom and both had two propeller engines built into them. Attached to the belly was a discus-shaped object and a long pole extended from the nose.

The entire body was painted in a mural of a tempest torn beach. Frothy waves crashing onto the pale sand and throwing white foam into the air against an angry, gray sky as palms bowed to what had to be an incredible wind. Across this vivid image was the word "Hurricane" painted in bold, black letters.

Auler whistled in astonishment. "That is some airship," he said.

"The _Hurricane_ is the most advance aircraft to ever grace the skies of the Wonder Planet with its presence," Cooper said, practically beaming with pride. "She lacks the submersible abilities of the Stingrays, but can circle the Wonder Planet three times with her fuel capacity. She also carries a full suite of instruments to gather just about any information on the atmosphere you could ask for. If a flythrough with this can't find the cause of the rain in the Tane-Tane Kingdom, I don't know what can."

Spigot pulled his chronometer from under his coat. "How long will it take to get her ready?"

"We have to fuel her up and run through the preflight check list," Bret answered. "Not much more than an hour."

"A good thing she got the year's first maintenance check earlier this week," Lee thought out loud. "Everything should be in working order."

"Get to work then," Spigot ordered. "I'll be waiting for Emily and Franklin."

We spent the hour waiting for Emily and Franklin to arrive and for the _Hurricane_ to be fueled. It felt kind of strange that we had less than a day before the spell became permanent and we were spending time just waiting. Though there was nothing else we could really do.

I started to think of the implications of what had happened to us. If we could not convince the Mother Tree to remove the curse, we would be ten centimeters tall for the rest of our lives.

I was not so much worried about myself. It was my idea to offer aid to the Tane-Tane Kingdom and I thought it was me admitting we could nothing that angered the Mother Tree. I could also find a way to get use to being this small. I even found it poetic that I have often felt insignificant and now I was in a literal sense.

I was more worried about Auler and Sophie. I know they said they had volunteered, but they were like this because of me. I wanted the Mother Tree to remove the curse more for them than for myself.

"Are you alright, Milro," Sophie asked.

"I was just thinking about what happens if the Mother Tree is not satisfied," I replied. "Giving the people of the Tane-Tane Kingdom a reason to hope is more important, but we'd be small forever."

"You can't think like that," Sophie said with that seemingly infinite optimism of hers. "Things will work out."

"You think so?" I asked weakly.

"We know so," Auler said tenderly. "You have to faith."

"Besides," Sophie added, "being small isn't all bad. We'll have an edge when we play hide-and-seek with our siblings."

Auler and I laughed weakly in response.

We heard and outer door open and Emily and Franklin walked in. The two Beavers brushed the snow off their uniforms and walked up to Arlene's desk.

"Hi," Emily said. "I'm Emily Pearce and this is Franklin Smith. Chief Spigot called us up here."

Spigot had us stand behind him as we walked into the reception area.

"There you are, chief," Emily said. "Mind telling us why you brought us all the way up here?"

"I should probably show you." He stepped out of the way so they could see us.

"My word," Emily gasped. "Princess Milro, what's happened to you?"

"We went down to the Tane-Tane Kingdom to offer aid," I explained. "However, the Mother Tree was angry we couldn't stop the rain and did this to us."

"Have you informed Queen Yamul?" Emily asked.

"Hell no," Spigot exclaimed. "If she found out, she'd kill me or, worse, fire me."

"Mother is more understanding than that," I said.

"Still, I'd rather exhaust all my options before I inform her," Spigot grumbled.

"What options do we have?" Franklin asked.

"I'll go into the gory details en route," Spigot said.

"M.C.," Tammy called from down the hall, "we're ready to go."

"Go where?" Franklin asked uneasily.

"I'll explain en route," Spigot repeated, pushing them forward.

The hangar doors had been opened the propellers were spinning by the time we got back. Lee was disconnecting the fuel hoses and wrapped them around their holders. We boarded through the Hurricane's rear hatch before Bret began to taxi it out into the open.

The narrow cabin was crowded with equipment. Computers were clustered at stations that were already filling their monitors with readouts. Cardboard cylinders were held in racks towards the back of the plane where there was a tube extending from the floor. Despite the cramped space, there were plenty of seats the others were already occupying and strapping in and even a bunk bed towards the back.

Lee joined Bret in the cockpit. He sat down in the leopard-print co-pilot's seats on the right as Bret was completing his checklist in the similarly styled pilot's seat on the left. I looked in and noticed a pair of large, fuzzy, white dice with black dots hanging from the center monitor and a hula dancing doll sitting on the dash.

"Interesting choices in decoration," Auler commented when he saw what I saw.

"We're all set," Bret announced. "The board is green."

"Everyone belt in," Spigot instructed. "We'll be taking off momentarily."

"Take off?" Franklin practically squeaked.

"Yes, take off," Spigot said in response. "We're going to doing a flyover of the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

"I don't think I've every told anyone this," Franklin said, "but I have a problem flying in fixed wing aircraft."

The _Hurricane_ began to accelerate.

"It's too late for that now," Spigot said, tightening his harness.

The Hurricane picked up more speed as it drove over the rough snow. Eventually, the landing gears lifted off the ground and we were airborne. We watched out the window as Monjara that had gathered to watch waved goodbye. Snow Mountain grew more distant as we flew towards the south.

"This is more like it," Bret cheered. "Did we lose anyone back there?"

"Yeah," Franklin groaned, "my stomach and my sanity."

"Well, they'll be missing one hell of a trip," Bret replied. "Next Stop: Tane-Tane Kingdom."


	4. Chapter 4: Secrets in the Stratonimbus

Chapter 4: Secrets in the Stratonimbus

The ballroom of Jewelry Castle is a breathtaking sight to behold. The walls, floor, and ceiling are adorned with colorful gems and accented by gold and silver. A massive gem is suspended from the ceiling and casts a rainbow effect on the dance floor as it slowly turns.

Auler waltzed with Altezza to an upbeat but delicate tune played by a string quartette. They were one of many couples dressed in their best wears and décor dancing across the expansive, floor. He and the blond-haired princess of the Jewelry Kingdom glided over the teal marble as they have anytime they danced. They forewent conversation and instead enjoyed the music and dancing.

Auler set his down and heard a distinctive splash. He stopped immediately and looked down at a centimeter of water that had collected on the floor. The other couples stopped as well as the quartette. Hushed conversation rose from the crowd as more noticed the water.

Everyone's attention turned the main doors. The water was flowing in from underneath them. Before anyone could do anything else, the doors burst open to let a torrent of water to crash into the ballroom. The guests tried to escape, but were swallowed by the violent torrent. The water engulfed Auler and Altezza and threw them apart.

"Altezza," Auler called out before water began to lap down his throat.

"Auler," Altezza screamed before she was dragged under.

"Altezza," Auler called out again before he too was dragged under.

* * *

Auler awoke with a start. He felt a cold sweat spread over his brow as he got his wits about him. He sat up and saw he was in the _Hurricane_ and ten centimeters tall. He heaved a sigh of relief as he realized he had fallen asleep and it was only a nightmare. The droning of the propellers told him he was in his element, high above the surface.

He looked next to him and saw Sophie was sleeping peacefully. Judging by the expression on her face, he figured she was in a much friendlier dream than he had been. It was early morning back in the Windmill Kingdom and this was the first time they had slept since the night before. He smiled warmly and spread his sleeveless, rope-like coat over his sister like blanket.

The engineers were seeing to their duties. Ophelia was examining various displays of the data they had collected, Franklin and Emily were monitoring the systems on a laptop, and Tammy was sitting near the tube as she watched her monitors.

"Good morning, Prince Auler," Ophelia said when she realized he was awake. She then frowned slightly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Auler replied. "It was just a nightmare." He stretched. "How long was I asleep?"

Spigot took out his chronometer. "About three and half hours," he reported.

In the cockpit, Bret and Lee were navigating the skies over the Moon Kingdom. The aurora filled the white night sky over the sandy dunes below us. There was not so much as a cloud in the sky and, outside of an isolated oasis in the yellow expanse, water was decidedly absent.

"Figures," Bret said dully. "We left a wasteland of ice for a wasteland of sand."

"Such is life I suppose," Lee replied.

"So, what are you going to do?" Bret asked.

"What am I going to do?" Lee repeated Bret's question.

"Our year on Snow Mountain will be over in less than two months," Bret said. "Do you have any plans?"

"Ophelia and I have a position at the castle lined up," Lee answered.

"I don't mean that," Bret said. "You've been stuck in the most inaccessible place in the Wonder Planet for a year. I'm talking about your social life."

"I don't have one," Lee said flatly.

"Consider this the perfect place to start," Bret said. "Get out, meet some cute girls, and maybe even go steady with one." He cracked a coy smile and jabbed the Aquarian in the side with his elbow.

Lee heaved a sigh. "Girls aren't interested in a guy like me," he said despairingly.

"Why not?" Bret asked. "You're tall, blue, and hansom. I'd think all the girls in the Northwest Territories would want a piece of you."

"I'm considered a nerd back home," Lee explained. "While others were interested in the sea, Ophelia and I had our eyes on the sky. We've always been fascinated by the weather and wanted to learn everything we could about it. We spent our time reading about fluid dynamics and atmospheric phenomena while others were game hunting and racing. We were made fun of and shunned by our peers and it only got worse when we got our degrees while others our age were just entering High School. We joined the engineering corps and took the position on Snow Mountain to get away from that."

"I didn't know," Bret said sheepishly. He then smirked. "The capital is a very different place than the frontier, though. They appreciate people like you more. I'm sure you'll a good-looking girl just as nerdy as you."

The two grinned and exhaled a laugh.

I was watching the same scene from one of the few portholes in the main cabin. We had passed over the lush, green swamps of the southern Drop Kingdom, through the gray clouds blanketing the Tane-Tane Kingdom and were now over the arid Moon Kingdom. The waterlogged Kingdom to our north stood in stark contrast to the seemingly endless desert below.

Auler walked up to the porthole and looked out. "You've already flown through the Tane-Tane Kingdom?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ophelia replied dully. "I'm currently analyzing the data we collected. Though, it's doing the job of three people by myself." She yelled the last two words to no one in particular.

"We have to go with what we have," Spigot said in response.

"What have you found," I asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Ophelia answered. "The problem is it's been raining for a week. The atmosphere is completely contaminated and it's hard to separate the cause from the symptoms."

She toggled through the maps, charts, and graphs. "The surface layer is unusually cool, but that's due to the lack of sunlight and latent cooling from evaporating water. The pressure is unusually high due to this cooling and is retarding the thermal wind." She stopped and eyed her monitor closely. "Hold the phone," she said, rubbing her chin and furrowing her brow.

"What is it?" Spigot asked eagerly as he practically leapt to her station.

"Hey, Lee," Ophelia called to the cockpit, "use the monitor in there to look at the aerosol counts."

Lee swiveled the monitor to face him and punched up the graph.

"Do you see it?" Ophelia asked.

"I see it," Lee replied. "These aerosol counts are way up. If they're hygroscopic in nature, they might be our smoking gun."

"Wait," Auler interjected. "What are you talking about?"

"The atmosphere over the Tane-Tane Kingdom has unusually high levels of particulates," Ophelia explained. "The atmosphere is filled with dust, smoke particles, even microbes. Water droplets are attracted to their surface and form raindrops around them. Precipitation can't occur without them. If the levels are high enough like now, these particulates can attract water vapor to make clouds, even when the air isn't saturated."

"This is also something that would definitely not be caused by the rain," Lee added.

"Excellent." Spigot smacked his hand on the table. "We have something to take to the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

"What do we do now?" Tammy asked.

"We go back to the Tane-Tane Kingdom and give the news to King King and the Mother Tree," Spigot answered. "With any luck, it'll be enough to convince her to restore Princess Milro and the others."

"I'll start running calculations on a timetable," Ophelia reported.

Spigot poked his head into the cockpit. "Set course for the Mother Tree, boys," he ordered.

"You got it," Bret said enthusiastically and began turning us back to the north.

* * *

Unknown to us, Khan was watching us from the Sunny Kingdom. He had watched our trip on the main monitor of one of the castle's many hidden stations. He grimaced as the Hurricane looped back above the yellow expanse.

"Damn those meddlesome rodents," he sneered. "Why can't they leave well enough alone?"

He tapped his fingers on the keyboard. _His Excellency won't be pleased to hear this,_ he thought.

* * *

Sophie blinked her eyes open and slowly sat up to stretch. "Good morning," she said. "What's happened?"

"We might have found what's causing the rain," Tammy answered.

"Cool," Sophie replied happily. "By the way, I've always had a question that you guys might be able to answer."

"Shoot," Ophelia said.

"Why do our countries make the weather?" Sophie asked.

Ophelia exhaled a laugh. "You could right a doctoral thesis on the answer. However, I can tell you the basics.

"Weather is basically the atmosphere trying to correct an energy imbalance. On terrestrial worlds, that imbalance is caused by the fact its equatorial regions receive more energy from the sun than its polar regions. However, the Wonder Planet is hollow with the sun in the center. So, the energy is equal everywhere. So, the Mera-Mera Kingdom not only produces heat to make the temperature livable, but creates a temperature gradient so air flows in a cell towards it at the surface and away from it aloft."

"If that makes the wind," Sophie asked, "why does my country make wind."

"That's only the thermal wind," Ophelia continued. "Your country produces the planetary wind. The two combine to create gyres of wind. One flows over the continent and I think there are two over the ocean."

"Typically, the planetary wind creates a boundary between the warm, equatorial air and the cold, polar air," Lee added from the cockpit. "It's at those boundaries where most of the storms happen. However, because the Wonder Planet doesn't have polar and equatorial regions in a sense of temperature, but instead a hot pole and cold pole offset from the rotation axis, that doesn't happen. Instead, the wind acts more like a current in the ocean."

"So, we make the wind to create these gyres," Sophie summarized. "Why does your country make clouds then?"

"That goes back to sunlight," Lee said. "The _Blessing of the Sun_ is actually not as intense as a real star, so the energy the surface receives is not as great. Without the Mera-Mera Kingdom, the Wonder Planet would be as cold as the summit of Snow Mountain."

Auler shivered at the very thought of such a world.

"Clouds need rising air to form," Lee continued. "As air rises, it cools. As air cools, it can't hold as much water vapor and the water vapor condenses into water droplets and clouds form.

"However, for air to rise, it needs to remain warmer than the surrounding air. Because the surface does not receive as much energy, it doesn't heat the air above it as much and we rarely see an air profile where a rising air parcel will remain warmer than the surrounding environment. The Drop Kingdom's machinery takes water from the ocean and does the process artificially. Once the cloud is formed, nature can do the rest.

"This is a really simplified explanation, but it gets the general idea across."

"I never stopped to think of what exactly we're doing," Auler mused aloud. "There's certainly more to it than 'The Drop Kingdom makes the clouds' and "The Windmill Kingdom makes the wind'."

"I also have a question," I said. "Why are you on the top of Snow Mountain?"

"We're studying one of the most fascinating meteorological phenomena," Ophelia answered. "Although air has a hard time rising adiabatically as Lee said, we've discovered it can be forced up by terrain. The wind comes off the Gulf of Adamant between us on the Jewelry Kingdom and picks up moisture evaporating off the water. It then hits the Snow Mountain Range and has nowhere to go but up. That's why it's snowing almost constantly on the summit and there's a desert at its eastern base."

"We theorize a similar process takes place at the foot of the Meridian Mountains which leads to the higher precipitation amounts in the eastern Windmill Kingdom," Lee added. "It could also explain why the gyres change shape over the year as differences in air pressure could have a similar affect."

"Speaking of higher precipitation amounts," Bret announced, "we're approaching the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

Everyone watched out the portholes as the auroras faded and the sky became a normal blue. The sky was also becoming more crowded with clouds. Unlike the wall on the northern edge, the southern edge was wispy with the clouds looking like fibers of cotton. The fibers became thicker and more numerous until they covered the entire sky. Raindrops began collecting on the portholes and everything became dim.

Once again, I could see the landscape of the stricken country. The colors seemed just as washed out as before under the dreary, gray sky. The rivers were terribly swollen and brown from mud.

"What a mess," Franklin commented.

"Even after the rain stops," Emily added, "it'll take months for the Tane-Tane Kingdom to fully recover."

After a little time, the Mother Tree came into view. Bret eyed the landscape ahead and drummed his fingers on his control yoke. "Uh…chief," he called back into the cabin.

"What?" Spigot asked as he walked into the cockpit.

"I don't know if we can land," Bret said. "It's not like they've provided us with a landing strip."

Spigot looked out the windshield. He pointed to an open field. "There," he said, "between that village and the Mother Tree."

"Uh-huh," Bret said as Spigot walked back into the cabin. "I've just got to land sixty tons of plane on a landing strip that doesn't exist in IFR conditions. Now sweat."

"You're always expounding on how you're 'the best damn pilot in the Drop Kingdom'," Lee said, proclaiming the quote. "Here's your chance to prove it."

"I guess I'd have to pay for my boasting one of these days," Bret complained.

He began lowering us for landing. The landing gears extended as the _Hurricane_ came closer and closer to the ground. The rear gears touched the ground gently before the forward one came down.

Bret heaved a sigh of relief. "That's was actually easy."

The Hurricane hit a dip in the ground followed by others. The whole craft shook and rattled as it traveled over the ground.

Spigot threw himself back into the cockpit. "What are you doing!?" he shouted.

"We're trying to land," Bret shot back.

We hit a rock that caused the front to lift up. Spigot lost his footing and rolled down the length of the cabin to land upside down on the door in the rear wall.

"Maybe I should have gone with the Sunny Kingdom Princesses after all," he groaned.

The _Hurricane_ came back down hard. Bret and Lee were hanging onto their controls to keep them from ripping from their hands.

"Spigot might as well have asked us to land on a giant washboard," Bret complained. "I can't get her under control."

"At least we won't hit anything," Lee said. He looked forward and saw that the Mother Tree was dead ahead and growing bigger in the windshield. "…except the Mother Tree."

"What?" Bret exclaimed and then looked forward. "Holy Crap! Lee, quick, the break, apply the emergency break!"

Lee pulled out a control and the light stating "Emergency Break Engaged," lit up red. The land gears came to an abrupt stop and the Hurricane began to slow.

The two heaved sighs in relief before they noticed the airship was turning. Franklin screamed as we slid across the wet grass sideways towards the Mother Tree. The Hurricane finally came to a stop before impact but leaned towards the Mother Tree before coming back to sit on all landing gears.

"I like you a lot too, Frank," Emily choked as Franklin had wrapped himself tightly around her torso. "However, I can't breathe."

Bret and Lee fell out of their chairs onto the floor between their seats.

"Bret, Lee," I called out as I ran to them, "are you two all right?"

"That was a great landing, you two," Sophie said before they could answer. "Spigot's comparing it to that of an albatross."

Bret and Lee groaned in response.

"Bret!" Tammy snarled, "you suck! We almost died thanks to your piloting."

"We're still alive thanks to my piloting," Bret shot back as we stepped back into the cabin. "I'd like to see you do better."

Tammy raised her arm and balled her fingerless gloved hand into a tight fist over Bret to get him to flinch.

"Enough of this," Spigot growled. "We…"

We heard a distinct tap over the gentle patter of the rain hitting the metal hull. It was followed by another a couple seconds later.

"What was that?" Tammy asked.

"Hail, probably," Emily answered.

"Can't be," Ophelia said. "Hail forms in convective clouds, not stratiform."

"Well, something solid is hitting the outside," Bret said.

He peered out one of the portholes. Outside, King and a large number of soldiers had taken up position in front of the Mother Tree. The troops were firing their air guns at the Hurricane and the tapping became almost continuous as their corks struck the hull.

"Keep firing-dane!" King shouted. "We can't let this monster attack the Mother Tree."

"It seems impervious to our weapons," one of the soldiers reported.

"Damn-dane," King sneered. "We have no choice but to use Big Bertha."

"This close to the Mother Tree?" a soldier exclaimed.

"Yes," King snapped. "Now, prepare Big Bertha."

"Stop that, you trigger-happy leprechauns," Bret snarled. "This is a custom paintjob."

"Relax, Bret," Lee said dismissively. "Those air guns can't harm this ship."

"What about a smoothbore?" Bret asked.

"A smoothbore on the other hand could do substantial…" Lee stopped in mid sentence when what Bret said sank in. "SMOOTHBORE!?"

The two looked out the porthole. Dozens of soldiers were pulling a full-sized cannon out of the Mother Tree. They loaded the bowling ball-sized shell into the back of the barrel and closed the breech as they pointed the muzzle towards us.

"They're going to kill us!" they yelped simultaneously and plastered themselves against the opposite wall.

"Prepare to fire-dane!" King commanded.

The rear hatch of the Hurricane suddenly dropped and Spigot came flying out. "Cease fire," he called out as he landed in the mud. "Cease fire."

"Hold your fire-dane," King said.

Spigot swept the mud off his uniform as he jogged to King and his men.

"Spigot, what are you doing here-dane?" King asked. "And why did you come out of that monster's…"

"It's not a monster," Spigot explained. "It's an airship."

"I've never seen an airship like this-dane," King said.

"Anyway, I've been investigating the weather patterns with a crack team of our meteorologists," Spigot said. "We believe we've found cause for the rain over your country."

At the same time, the engineers, Sophie, Auler, and I came out of the Hurricane.

"Crack team-dane!?" King exclaimed when he saw the youths. "They're a bunch of teenagers-dane!"

"Excuse me," Emily shot back, "I haven't been a teenager for more than three years."

"Is this some kind of sick joke, Spiggy," Axe snarled. "We're in serious jeopardy here and you're leaving it in the hands of children."

"But we've found the cause," Lee said. "There are elevated quantities of hygroscopic aerosols in the cloud bearing layer of the atmosphere that's causing the clouds to precipitate prematurely."

"What-dane!?" King exclaimed.

"There's some kind of gunk in the air that's making it rain," Ophelia clarified.

"I believe that's what I said," Lee said in response.

"And this helps us how-dane?" King growled.

"Since we know the cause," Spigot explained, "we will be able to determine when the weather patterns will shift."

"Good for you," Axe said.

After a pause, King turned to his troops and ordered, "Stand down-dane."

His troops began to push Big Bertha back into the Mother Tree. Spigot followed them in before the door shut.

Meanwhile, we were being watched from a distance. A blue and chrome Helidoll was sitting in a tree. The camera behind his goggle-like face had focused on Emily and me.

His LED "eyes" changed to an orange expression of curiosity as he rubbed his chin. "His Excellency will be interested in this news."

He leapt from the tree and called out, "Copterbot: Flight Mode."

The blades folded over the motor on the humanoid robot's back extended and lifted on a stalk before starting to spin. He flew off into the gloom without us knowing he was ever there.

"Well, you know what they say about best laid plans," Franklin said despairingly.

"Where do they get off calling us kids?" Tammy complained. "We know more about what's going on than they ever will."

"That's exactly why," Emily said. "They're adults and don't want to believe we know more than they do. They don't trust anyone under thirty. Of course, when they were our age, they didn't trust anyone over thirty."

Ophelia took a raindrop-shaped device she was wearing around her neck out of her shawl and held in the air. After it made a bleep, she brought it down to read its small screen. "Temperature: Twelve Degrees Celsius, Dewpoint: Eleven Degrees Celsius, Barometric Pressure: One Thousand Twenty-Two Milibars, Winds North-Northeast at three kilometers per hour," she reported.

"What's that mean?" Franklin asked.

"It's cold, damp, and calm," Bret said.

A scream suddenly rose over the sound of constant rain. We all looked around to see where it came from, but saw nothing. We then realized it came from above the ceiling of clouds.

"Slow down! Slow it down!" a male voice screamed.

"I'm trying," a female voice replied, "but the throttle's stuck."

"That might be because your foot is still on the accelerator," the male voice snapped.

"Oopse," the female voice said sheepishly.

"I'm gonna die!" the male voice screamed.

A purple streak suddenly shot out of the clouds and flew into the branches of the Mother Tree before we could make out what it was.

"Ha," Bret exhaled and pointed at the rest of us. "And you thought my landing sucked."

"Enough about that," Tammy shot back. "Are they all right?"

"How should I know?" Bret said.

He looked back at the hole in the foliage the object had created. Without warning, something dashed from the hole and latched to Bret's head. He screamed out of shock. It screamed in reaction to Bret's scream.

The two exchanged screams a couple times before Tammy roared, "Knock it off!"

What had flown out of the Mother Tree was a Doggel. The sky blue-furred, canine resident of the Windmill Kingdom looked around him. He then looked down at the ground. "Terra Firma!" he exclaimed as he leapt off Bret and onto the ground. "I love you," he said as he kissed the ground. He then spat out a wad of mud. "You taste like dirt, but I still love you."

We all watched the spaniel-like man. He was a Windmill Kingdom worker judging by his uniform which is identical to ours except purple with a different pattern. We had momentarily forgotten there was another voice when we heard a scream from the hole.

We all swung around and looked to the hole. A Windmill Kingdom airship was snagged in the branches with the envelope punctured. Hanging onto the edge hull was a female half-Doggel with long, blond hair held in a ponytail by a large, purple bow. Like the Doggel, she was wearing a worker's uniform.

"Help!" she cried out. "Someone, help me! I'm going to fall!"

"Lady Nicole!" the Doggel shouted.

The young woman, apparently named Nicole, lost her grip and plummeted towards the ground screaming. However, she fell into someone's cradling arms before hitting the ground. Her eyes had been screwed shut during the fall and she opened them slowly to see Lee was holding her.

He looked down into her baby blue eyes and stopped. His face reddened slightly and he gulped dryly.

"What's with Lee?" Bret asked. "He looks like he's in pain."

"He's not in any pain," Ophelia snapped at him. "I think he's fallen in love at first sight."

"What?" Bret exclaimed.

"Are you all right?" Lee asked in a gentle voice.

"Yes," she said as he set down. "Thank you."

"Thank you, God," the Doggel sighed in relief. "Her mother would have killed me if something happened to her."

"Where are my manners?" Nicole asked herself out loud. "I should probably introduce myself." She gave a dainty curtsy. "My name is Nicole Marquette and my companion is Alex Ljungqvist."

"Pleased to meet you guys," Alex said. "Most everyone calls me Al."

"Hey, Al," the Drop engineers replied.

"I'm Lee Glauca," Lee introduced himself. "This is my twin sister, Ophelia…"

"Pleased to meet you," Ophelia said.

"…Bret Greene…"

"Yo," Bret said.

"…Tammy Frost…"

"Hey," Tammy said.

"…I'm Emily Pearce and this is Franklin Smith," Emily finished the introductions for Lee.

"How's it going," Franklin said.

"Al called you Lady Nicole," Bret said. "Are you a noble?"

"Lady Marquette is the heir to the Pastureland Duchy and one of Princess Sophie's ladies in waiting," Alex proclaimed.

Nicole blushed. "You don't have to proclaim it like that," she said dismissively. "You're embarrassing me."

"What are you, Al?" Tammy asked.

"I'm just a simple navigator," Alex replied. "We came to the Tane-Tane Kingdom in search of Prince Auler and Princesses Sophie."

The Drop engineers gulped dryly. "Uh…why?" Bret asked, trying to hide his discomfort from his voice.

"They've not returned from their errand to the Drop Kingdom," Nicole explained. "The king and queen are very worried and sent us to search for them. I figured they'd either be here or in your country. You haven't seen them, have you?"

"Uh…did you bring your sense of humor?" Franklin asked.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Alex asked.

"Look down," Bret said, pointing to the ground.

The two followed his finger to us.

"Oh my God!" Alex yelped.

"Hi, Nicole," Sophie said, blissfully waving. "How's the weather up there?"

"Hi…Sophie…" Nicole said uncomfortably.

"Prince Auler, Princess Sophie," Alex exclaimed, "what's happened to you?"

"That," Bret said, pointing to the Mother Tree. "The Mother Tree threw a conniption when they said they couldn't stop the rain and shrank them."

"Uh-huh," Alex exhaled. "See ya." He spread is long ears out like wings and leapt into the air to fly away.

"Where are you going, Alex?" Nicole asked.

"Back to the Windmill Kingdom," Alex answered. "I've got to break the news King Randa."

"DON'T!" Lee, Ophelia, and Bret blurted. They all grabbed his long tail and pulled him to the ground.

"Let go of me," Alex snarled.

"You don't understand," Bret said in a panicked tone as he pulled the small Doggel up to his eye level. "If you tell King Randa, he'll inform Queen Yamul."

"Your point being?" Alex asked with apparent disinterest.

"If Queen Yamul finds out a plant if an attitude problem shrank her daughter, it'd make her angry," Bret said. He then brought Alex's face uncomfortably close to his. "You wouldn't like her when she's angry."

"We're working on returning them to normal," Lee said. "We can explain inside our airship."

We walked into the Hurricane and the shelter from the rain and cold it provided. Nicole inhaled an impressed gasp and her face lit up when she stepped in and looked around the cabin. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "You must have a fully functional weather lab in here."

"That's the idea," Tammy said.

Nicole sat down at one of the computers and began to skim through the readouts. "You have everything: Radar, barometer, wind speed and direction isolated into the three dimensional vectors, aerosol concentration, remote thermal imaging and water vapor measurements, dropsondes, radiosondes," she said giddily like a child gushing over a friend's new toy. "I bet this airship can detect things even the Sunny Kingdom's totem cones can't."

"You seem to know a lot about the weather," Ophelia said. "Do you study meteorology?"

"It's more of a hobby," Nicole replied.

Lee noticed she had the radar display up. The monitor was filled with a blob of greens and blues with specks of yellow covering the Tane-Tane Kingdom. "Did you know you can look at the profile of the rain with the radar?" he said.

"You can!?" Nicole almost squealed. She then regained her lady-like composure. "I mean, you can? Show me."

Lee touched the screen at two points and a line connected them. He then touched the confirm area and the display tilted to show the line was a rectangle rising into the air with the radar display painted on it.

"Incredible," Nicole gasped.

"You said you were working on returning the prince and princesses to normal," Alex interjected.

"We've collected data on the conditions surrounding the Tane-Tane Kingdom," Ophelia said. "We've already found the cause for the persistent rain."

"What did you find?" Nicole asked.

"The aerosol count over the Tane-Tane Kingdom is unusually high," Lee answered.

"So, you believe they're hygroscopic in nature and causing accelerated raindrop formation," Nicole said.

"Yes," Lee said eagerly. "That's exactly what we're thinking."

"Have you found the source?" Nicole asked.

"Not yet," Ophelia said. "However, I'm thinking…"

"Hey, guys," Bret said, cutting off the conversation, "Spigot's coming out."

Everyone gathered around a portal and watched. Spigot was still following King, apparently pleading with him.

"Have they been returned to normal size-dane?" King shouted.

"No," Spigot replied helplessly.

"Then, we're not satisfied-dane," King said flatly and headed back into the Mother Tree.

Spigot stood there and looked on until King disappeared and the door closed behind him. He growled something under his breath as he stomped back up the ramp. He threw open the door into the cabin and slammed it shut behind him.

"How did it go?" Ophelia asked.

"Like explaining the light bulb to cavemen," Spigot growled. "We're heading back."

"We still have almost fourteen hours before dawn," Ophelia said.

"I don't care," Spigot snarled. "I'd rather face Yamul's wrath and probable unemployment than deal with these people any more."

"What happens at dawn?" Nicole asked.

"The curse on Princess Milro and the others becomes permanent," Spigot said flatly.

"Permanent!" Nicole and Alex exclaimed.

Franklin happened to look out a porthole and see a Molmo worker running towards the Mother Tree. "Why is he in such a hurry?"

"I don't care," Spigot said to no one in particular. "I've had it with the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

As the Molmo ran past the rear hatch, Emily poked her head out the door and asked, "What's your hurry?"

"It's terrible," the mole-like worker panted. "The earthen dam holding back the northern reservoir has sprung a leak. If it's not fixed, the whole thing could collapse and flood the entire valley below."

Emily turned back to the others. "It sounds like they have real a crisis on their hands."

"We've got to do something about it," I asserted.

The engineers all gave a nod in response.

Emily turned back to the Molmo. "What direction is the reservoir?" she asked.

"That way," the Molmo said and pointed in the general direction he came from.

"That's all we needed to know," Emily said. "Come on, guys."

They dashed out into the rain in the direction the Molmo pointed. Alex placed Auler, Sophie, and me on the brim of his hat and flew after them. Although reluctant, Spigot ran after the others after a couple seconds of hesitation.

King came out with Axe and several others. "What's going on-dane?" he asked.

"There's a breach in the northern reservoir's dam," The Molmo said.

"Quick, gather a repair crew, quick-dane," King ordered Axe.

"I'll get right on it." Axe saluted.

"I think you may already have one," the Molmo said as we disappeared into the woods.


	5. Chapter 5: DAM IT!

Chapter 5: DAM IT!

From our perch on Alex's hat, Auler, Sophie and I watched as everyone ran down the path leading to the reservoir. Even under the trees arcing over the dirt trail, rain was coming down on us and the ground had turned to soft mud. The footprints everyone left quickly filled with water as a sign of how close the water table was to the surface.

King and his children caught up to us riding creatures that look like a dog head was put on a long, multi-legged insect. Their green, ball-shaped segments undulated up in down in waves as they ran as fast as their many legs could carry them. Axe was also running behind them.

"Where are you going, Spiggy?" Axe huffed. "I thought you said you didn't want anything more to do with us."

"I don't," Spigot panted. "However, your damn dam had other plans."

Lee, Ophelia, and Bret ran out of the tunnel of trees and into the open. They slid across the mud to a stop and panted to catch their breath.

We came out and could only gasp and stare at what was before us. The earthen dam looked more like a massive hillside of rocky soil. Near the bottom, what could only be described as a geyser of water was erupting from the incline. White, frothy water flew several meters out of the rupture before gravity could make it arc back towards the ground.

"That's more than a leak," Tammy stated plainly.

"What's going on-dane?" King shouted over the deafening roar.

"We've tried to plug the breach-dane," a worker stated. "However, the water is too strong-dane. It blows away anything we try to plug it with-dane."

Spigot looked long and hard as he examined the dam. "This isn't good," he finally said. "That geyser is tearing material away from the damn. If it isn't fixed, there could be a collapse at the top and then the water will take the whole thing out."

"This reservoir holds over hundred million gallons," Axe exclaimed. "That water would flood the whole valley."

I looked down into the valley in the distance. Through the mist, I could make out several villages. I could only imagine the thousands of people in harm's way.

"Are you sure there is nothing you can do-dane?" King asked.

"We don't know what we can do-dane," the worker replied helplessly.

"Then send your men down into the valley-dane," King ordered. "I'm issuing an immediate evacuation."

Lee had been quiet as he surveyed the scene. He bobbed his head as he seemed deep in thought. His silver eyes suddenly lit up.

"Ophelia," he exclaimed, "I've got an idea."

He grabbed his twin sister's arm. "Hey," was all she could yelp as he dragged her up the hillside to the top of the reservoir. Lee let her go as he threw off his hat and long coat.

"What's gotten into you?" Ophelia snapped.

"We've got to go in," Lee said before leaping into the water.

Ophelia was hesitant at first. However, she removed her bandana and shall and jumped in after him.

The two underwent an incredible change upon submerging into the water as all Aquarian do when entering the water. The pressure against their gill slits triggered muscles in their throats to seal off their windpipes and open the passages to their gills slits that opened as the cells sealing them unhinged. Third eyelids spread over their eyes and completed their transformation from land to water. Lee swept his webbed hands through the water as he swam down into the reservoir.

The reservoir was a huge gash in the land filled with water. The edges were steep and rocky and the bottom was barren. Ophelia and Lee found themselves less buoyant in the fresh water and their gill slits were working hard to expel excess water.

"What's going on, Lee?" Ophelia snapped.

"I just thought of a way to seal the rupture," Lee answered eagerly. "They can't seal it from the outside due to the pressure. However, if we seal it from the inside…"

"I get it," Ophelia picked up his thought. "The pressure would hold the seal in place like the doors to a lock. Lee, you're brilliant!"

"Of course I am," Lee said, beaming.

Ophelia cracked a coy grin. "Impressing Nicole wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?"

Lee's smile disappeared instantly and his face turned red. "Am I that transparent?"

"Like crystal glass," Ophelia replied.

Lee's face turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Don't worry," Ophelia said, "you're not the first guy who wants to impress a beautiful lady."

"Well, saving the valley is our priority," Lee said.

"Right," Ophelia replied. "What should we do?"

"Uh…we need something to seal the breach," Lee said.

He quickly scanned the bottom below them. Near the rupture was a massive boulder. "That should do it," he said.

The two swam down to the huge rock. Ophelia found herself being pulled by the current flowing out of the rupture. Lee grabbed her and pulled her behind the boulder.

"Thanks," Ophelia said as she panted.

She looked up at the boulder. The nearly spherical rock was several times larger than them combined. "I don't think we can move this thing by ourselves," she said, "especially in fresh water. I'm already getting tired."

"I'll go up and get Tammy and the others," Lee said. "Stay put until we get back."

Ophelia took one look at the violent current and shouted, "Trust me, I have no intention of moving," to her brother.

On the shore, we were waiting for any signs from below.

"How long can they stay down there-dane?" King asked.

"If this was salt water, indefinitely," Spigot said. "However, in fresh water, I'd say a couple hours at most."

Auler, Sophie, and I were standing at the water's edge, staring at the water. All we could see were the rings made by the raindrops hitting the water as it hid whatever the two Aquarians were doing in the depths. However, we saw a form appear underwater and Lee's head soon broke the surface.

"We've found something to seal the breach," Lee reported. "However, we're going to need all your help."

"Alright then," Spigot said, clapping his hands together loudly, "let's go."

He and the other Drop Kingdom engineers took off their hats, coats, shawls and bandanas before leaping into the water and following Lee under and out of site.

We were so transfixed on what was happening below the water, we were not paying attention to what was happening under out feet. The ground under us suddenly gave way. Sophie and I jumped back in shock. However, Auler slipped and fell in the water. He flailed helplessly before he sank under the surface.

"Big Brother!" Sophie shrieked with a kind of panic I thought I'd hear in her voice. "He can't swim!"

I swung my head back to the water. Only a few small bubbles floating to the surface were left to indicate where Auler had gone under. I swallowed dryly as I knew what to do.

I backed up a couple steps and broke into a run towards the edge. I jumped in the water before I could give it a second thought. I grabbed Auler's arm and pulled it over my shoulders and swam back to the surface.

Auler coughed as soon as his head broke the surface. A couple of Tane-Tane people helped us back on land and we laid Auler over the grass. He coughed up more water before sitting up and gasping for air. After a couple labored gasps, he managed to start breathing normally to all our relief.

All of our attention turned back to the water where the others were working.

All seven engineers threw their weight against the massive rock. However, it did not budge. Ophelia slipped on the silt of the bed as the others collapsed against the boulder.

"It's no use," Ophelia panted. "It's too heavy."

Lee's eyes happened to fall upon a long, slim tree trunk and a smaller rock. "…but give me a lever big enough and I can move the world."

He tapped Tammy on the shoulder and pointed to his find. The two grabbed the rock and trunk. Tammy placed the rock next to the boulder and Lee shoved the trunk between them.

Tammy, Bret, and Ophelia joined Lee in pushing the branch down as Spigot, Franklin, and Emily pushed the boulder. It finally budged began to roll along the bed. The current picked it up and sucked right into the hole. It plugged the rupture and the current stopped abruptly.

We learned of their success when the deafening roar of water suddenly stopped. A few of the workers standing near the edge confirmed it when they shouted, "the water stopped-dane."

We erupted into cheers and applause as the seven broke the surface.

"Yeah!" Bret shouted as he climbed back on shore. "No one dams like Beavers, dammit!"

"That was brilliant," Nicole said giddily to Lee. She was more reserved when she added, "I mean, thinking of sealing the rupture from inside the reservoir was inspired."

Lee's face reddened and turned away from her as he pulled on his coat. "I'm from the Drop Kingdom," he said in as casual a tone as he could and shrugged. "If there's one thing we should know, its water."

"Don't sell yourself short," Ophelia said. She bumped her brother with her hips as she was tying the ribbon of her shawl. "It was a brilliant idea."

"You were also the one to think of the lever," Tammy added.

Lee's face grew even redder and he pulled his hat over his head.

"Like it means anything," Axe angrily interjected. "So you stopped the immediate threat. It's still raining and that dam is still under undo stress. I'd like to see you actually solve the problem we're facing. It's always the same way with the Drop Kingdom…"

"Axe," Spigot said in a very low, quiet voice.

"What?" Axe snapped.

Spigot swung around and smashed his right fist into the left side of Axe's head. Axe was swung around by the blow and collapsed, knocked senseless.

"Shut…up!" Spigot forced through his tightly clenched teeth.

"You enjoyed that," Emily scolded.

"Emily, how dare you suggest I'm capable of something so unprofessional and self-serving?" Spigot shot back.

Emily only stared at him condescendingly.

"Of course I enjoyed it," Spigot said.

* * *

Evening was coming by the time we returned from the reservoir. It was hard to tell at first as the blanket of gray clouds made it dim as dim as early twilight during the day. However, by the time we reached the _Hurricane_, it was noticeably darker.

"I'm beat," Ophelia groaned as we trudged back onto the cabin. "You might as well have asked us to run a marathon in smog."

"We fare better than most sea creatures in freshwater," Lee said. "However, I'm glad to be out of there."

"You were saying something about the source for the excess aerosols before this started," Nicole said to Ophelia. "What were you about to say?"

"Oh, that," Ophelia said. She took a second to gather her thoughts. "Well, when you eliminate the impossible, what remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

"Meaning?" Spigot asked.

"There is no natural cause for these aerosol counts," Ophelia said. "That leaves the artificial. Granted, I can't tell you whether it's natural or intentional, but someone in the southern Drop Kingdom is the cause for the flooding here."

"That means…" Spigot started to say.

"I know," Ophelia said. "It's most likely _him_."

"Terrific," Spigot grumbled. "This day just keeps getting better and better."

* * *

The _Blessing of the Sun_ was an orange, quickly waning crescent over the Zubuzubu Swamp. The sky had turned from a brilliant blue into a deep purple with orange closer to the ground. The typically white clouds looked like nuggets of gold as they passed over the swampy region.

Copter-Bot flew over the lakes and forests of the expansive wetland in the southern Drop Kingdom. His vision fell on a lake with an island in the center. Several buildings of wood and corrugated metal sat along the sides of a run way on this island connected to the mainland by a bridge.

The Helidoll dropped towards the ground. He shouted, "Copter-Bot: Ground Mode." His blades stopped spinning and collapsed and folded back over his motor. He walked towards a dilapidated river boat beached on the shore.

As he stepped onto its deck, he tripped over an alligator snapping turtle sleeping near the gangplank. The reptile awoke and growled at him. He took a snap at the android as he backed up.

"Nice turtle, down turtle," Copter-Bot said as he stood up and ran down the deck.

Copter-Bot burst into what use to be the main ballroom of the ship. However, it had been filled with computers and tables. Walruses wearing yellow tunics and darkened goggles sat at the computers sitting against the walls and several Gators were gathered around the largest table covered in maps. Standing among them was Geronita.

The lime green Bull Frog looked up when heard his pet growling. "Snap!" he croaked, "go lay down!"

Snap took one last lunge at Copter-Bot before stomping back to where he had been sleeping.

"I have a report," Copter-Bot announced. "Milro is in the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

"Oh really?" Geronita said as he walked up to the android.

Copter-Bot nodded.

"WHAT DO THE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE BEAVER'S SPAWN HAVE TO DO WITH THE FLOODING IN THE TANE-TANE KINGDOM I SENT YOU TO TRACK THE PROGRESS OF!?" Geronita bellowed. "You bionic boob! I should melt you down and make you into a urinal pump!"

Copter-Bot fell backwards in shock. "But, there is something about her you might find interesting," he whimpered.

"What!?" Geronita snapped.

"It is kind of hard to explain," Copter-Bot said.

"Then show me!" Geronita pulled Copter-Bot's mouth plate open. He grabbed the pink USB cable underneath and pulled the Helidoll to a computer by it. He plugged the cable into the computer next to the one diminutive Walrus wearing a red aloha shirt.

What Copter-bot had seen appeared on the screen. Geronita scanned through it until he came to his footage of us. He then paused on an image of Emily and me.

"Well, well, well," Geronita thought out loud, rubbing his alabaster white chin. "Yamul's precious little girl is no bigger than a Tane-Tane person."

"How did that happen?" the Walrus asked.

"Who cares," Geronita said.

He paused to ponder what he had seen. Unconsciously, he had pulled out Copter-Bot's cable and was twirling it around his webbed fingers.

"Milro's in such a vulnerable state, in a foreign land, and protected by only a handful of traffic cones," he thought out loud.

After another moments pause. "We could use this to our advantage!" he declared, letting go of Copter-Bot's cable so it could snap back into his head.

Copter-Bot closed his mouth plate to ask, "How?"

"My father taught me you can never have the deck too stacked in your favor," Geronita answered. "With her daughter as my prisoner, Yamul won't dare make a move against me. I'll conquer the Drop Kingdom and then all of the Wonder Planet." He laughed a maniacal, croaky laugh. He then inhaled to croak, "Talia, get down here."

An Avian woman resembling a peregrine falcon wearing a black, halter-top dress descended from shadowy rafters. "You called?" she asked.

"I have job for you," Geronita said. "Head down to the Tane-Tane Kingdom and capture Milro."

"It'll be night soon," Talia said. "I'm no good in the dark."

Geronita frowned at her response. "Damn you Avians and your strictly diurnal clocks. Fortunately, my loyal Gator troops aren't so handy capped."

He turned to one of his alligator-like henchmen and croaked, "Major, send one of your men down to capture her."

"It will be done at once, Lord Geronita" the reptilian man said, smacking his scaly fist against the chest of his brown, leather coat.

"One more thing," Geronita said, "if any of Yamul's flunkies get in our way, they are to be eliminated." He pulled his finger across his throat as if it was a dagger. He worked his way back into another fit of maniacal, croaky laughter.

* * * * *

"…and that's it for Tonight," Milro said.

"What?" Nalro exclaimed. "But, it was just getting good."

"I know," Milro said, "but it's time for bed. I'll tell you the rest tomorrow night."

"Alright," Nalro said, disappointed.


	6. Chapter 6: When It Rains It Pours

Chapter 6: When It Rains It Pours

Nalro eagerly waited for the next evening. He was all ready for bed by the time Milro came in with her set of pictures.

"I see you're ready for the conclusion," Milro said as she sat down.

Nalro nodded eagerly in response.

"Alright," Milro said. She held up her stack of cards with a picture of the _Hurricane_'s long, narrow cabin in front.

* * * * *

Oblivious to the threat posed by Geronita, we stayed in the Tane-Tane Kingdom to further investigate the mysterious aerosols causing the rain there. We also helped them sure up their defenses against the rising water. Sophie even saved a flower on the verge of being swallowed by the flood.

"There you go," Sophie said tenderly as she straightened up the delicate, pink flower in a clay pot in the _Hurricane_. "You'll be safe in here."

"What are we looking into now?" Franklin asked as he and Ophelia walked into the cabin.

"The region has been shielded from the _Blessing of the Sun_ for so long and a lot of heat has been absorbed by evaporation," Ophelia explained. "We're looking to see if there is a rise in potential temperature. It could be the key to finding when the weather patterns will change."

Ophelia plopped down in chair next to the main computers.

Franklin opened the mini-fridge. "You want anything?"

"As long as it has caffeine in it," Ophelia said, clearly exhausted.

"How about some Chug-Chug Cola?" Franklin asked as he pulled out a bottle.

"I could use something like 'kicks like a train'," Ophelia said.

Franklin handed Ophelia the bottle. She placed the cap between her enlarged incisors to wrench it off. After spitting the cap into a nearby bin, she upended the soda.

"Where's Bret?" Franklin asked.

"He said he had to take a leak," Sophie replied. She then rested her head on her hand and pondered out loud, "Though, I don't know how he can take a leak anywhere or where he'd take it if he could."

Ophelia and Franklin looked at each other and cracked uncomfortable grins. "Um, uh," they stumbled over their tongues as they tried to decide if they should tell that is not what he meant.

A cough from Auler put them back into silence. He patted his chest a couple times as he walked out of the cockpit.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he grumbled.

"You never told any of us you couldn't swim," I said.

"That's because none of you ever asked," he snapped.

"It's no big deal," I said casually. "Once this is over, I can teach you to swim."

"Forget it," he said, pushing my hand away as I was about to place it on his shoulder. "Aquarians swim, I fly."

He stormed out of the Hurricane without another word.

"I've never seen him like that," Sophie said after a couple seconds, breaking the ensuing silence.

"You have to realize Prince Auler is entering a period of his life when guys like to believe they're invincible," Franklin replied. "Being reminded of his mortality and faults has no doubt hurt his pride. Just leave him alone for now."

Spigot walked up into the cabin from the outside. "What's up with Prince Auler?" he asked, pointing behind him.

"It's nothing," Ophelia said. "He's just upset about what happened at the reservoir."

"Okay," Spigot said with a shrug. "So, what have you found?"

"The balloons are both rising," Ophelia reported as she turned back to one of the monitors.

A pair of chimes came over her communicator. She pulled it out and flipped it open. "Ophelia here," she said into it.

"Is what we think is happening happening?" Lee's voice asked over the speaker.

"It looks like it," Ophelia said. "The potential temperature levels are well above what you'd expect for this area this time of year."

"So, our isentropic mountain is forming," Lee said. "That means this event is apoptotic in nature."

"What did he say?" Spigot asked.

"Stable air moves along planes of constant potential temperature," Ophelia explained. That's why the winds in the cloud bearing layer travel around the continent the way they do.

"What's happening is this potential temperature planes over the Tane-Tane Kingdom are rising because the air is cooling." She formed a peak with her hands. "This is forming a bulge that would cause the air to have to fight gravity to get over. Our current theory is the air will eventually be forced over the ocean which usually has higher isentropes in early and the clouds will be diverted there."

"Basically you're saying this event has a built in kill switch," Spigot clarified.

Ophelia nodded.

"Why didn't you say so," Spigot cheered. "When does it kick in? Please tell me it's tonight."

"Actually," Ophelia said, "in a few hours we should see a wind shift. It's having to overcome the dip caused by the clouds, but that should be happening now."

"Did you hear that, Milro?" Sophie cheered. "I told you everything would work out in the end."

I simply nodded. Then, in a moment of weakness, I hugged her and cried, "I'll be so glad when we're big again."

* * *

Lee and Nicole were walking back from where they launched their weather balloon.

"You and your sister are the first Aquarians I've ever met," Nicole said.

"I'm not surprised," Lee said. "Even those of us who live on land rarely stray far from the coast." He coughed a laugh. "I think Ophelia and I might be the first of our people to leave the Drop Kingdom in a very long time."

"I envy you," Nicole said in a soft but plain voice.

"It's nothing big," Lee replied.

"That's not what I mean," Nicole said as she stopped. "You get to pursue you're passion of studying weather. You're even paid to do it. I've had my destiny laid before me since the day I was born."

"You'll be a duchess," Lee said.

Nicole nodded. "I'm the only child in my family.

"Since I was little, Mother has been grooming me for the day I take her place as the head of the Pastureland Duchy. However, I've always been fascinated by weather. Mother tells me a lady of my status does not waste her time with such trivial pursuits.

"She suggested I become one of Princess Sophie's ladies in waiting in the hopes being a member of the court will make me more ladylike. Don't think that means I don't like the opportunity. I do want to be a good Duchess for the people of my duchy and Princess Sophie is such a wonderful person and we've become close friends."

Lee grinned. "I understand you more than you know," he replied. "Ophelia and I weren't very popular among our peers either. Though, we did have the chance to get out and into the engineering crops. Judging by your uniform, I'd say you've made your exit as well."

"King Randa liked my ideas and I also entered the crew that oversees the Windmill Network when I don't have other duties," Nicole replied.

They came to the crest of a hill overlooking the Mother Tree. Night had fallen completely and plunged the agrarian country into darkness. Only tiny points of light in candlelit windows pierced the darkness along with the portholes and running lights of the _Hurricane_. Above them, the clouds blocked the stars and Full Moon to make the sky a black void that joined with black landscape at some unseen seem.

"I guess I should help Ophelia analyze all the data we're collected," Lee said with a sigh. "She's been handling it herself since we started this wild goose chase."

"I'll stay out a little longer," Nicole said. "I've always enjoyed the rain."

"Suit yourself," Lee said as he walked off. "Just don't catch cold."

Nicole sat down on a rock and closed her eyes as she listened to the rain. When she was little, she would go into the motor room of the windmill her family lives in to listen to the rain hitting the roof. She loves the rain, the sound, the feel, and smell that come with the rain. Although the fresh smell had been replaced by musk, the sound and feel still immersed her.

She happened to look up to see a blob of dull gray move through the blackness. It illuminated the details of the ceiling of clouds as it disappeared behind the mist.

"What was that?" she thought out loud.

She looked back towards the villages. The light from Lee's flashlight had almost reached the _Hurricane_. Also, he had more important things to do.

She looked back to where the blob had gone. Overcome with curiosity, she started running in the general direction.

* * *

The blob was the light from the floodlight of a stingray hitting the clouds. The two-seat flying submarine, crafted in the shape of its namesake, descended out of the clouds and landed in a large clearing well away from civilization. The elongated canopy lifted a slid back so the Gator piloting it could climb out.

The reptilian man pulled out his harpoon rifle and slapped a cylindrical ammo drum into place. He turned on the blue laser and scanned it across the landscape. He then reached into the backseat and pulled out a brass birdcage and a bulky flashlight.

He leapt off the broad wing of his craft and turned on his flashlight. He swept the light from side to side as he started to search the gloom for us.

* * *

It took awhile for Bret to find a place where he could take his leak. The Tane-Tane Kingdom was not designed for people his size to take care of business. However, he found a secluded tree and quickly did what he came to do.

On his way back, he heard screams from the darkness. Ahead of him, several points of light appeared and were headed toward him. He shined his flashlight in their direction to see they were actually Tane-Tane people in a dead run in his direction.

"Run for your life-dane," one of them cried. "There's a giant lizard monster-dane."

Bret followed them with his flashlight as they ran passed him and back into the darkness.

"What?" Bret asked no one in particular, "did an overgrown gecko move in?"

He started to walk again before turning to face forward. He took only a couple steps before he ran into something. He staggered back as he got his feet back under him.

"Hey," he snapped, "watch where you're going."

He shined his flashlight ahead of him. The circle of light fell on dark brown cowhide and long, boxy snout covered in dark green scales and several small, sharp, white teeth lined the seem of a mouth. In the darkness above the light, a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes glared down at him.

Bret tried to scream, but his voice was trapped in his throat and only a wheeze could escape. Before he could say anything, large hands grabbed his jacket and he was lifted off the ground to the level of those eyes.

* * *

"Auler," I called out, lifting up my lantern to try and light more of the gloom surrounding us.

"Big Brother," Sophie followed up.

"I wish I was big enough to hold a flashlight," I lamented.

"I found him," Sophie shouted.

We found Auler sitting on a flagstone on the outskirts of one of the nearby villages. He was soaked to the skin but did not seem to notice or care. He did not even lift his head as we approached.

"There you are, Big Brother," Sophie said, trying her best to sound like she was scolding him. "You should come in. You'll catch a cold if you stay out here in this."

"I don't care," Auler said dully.

"What's wrong?" I inquired.

"What's wrong?" Auler scoffed. He jumped to his feet and said in a huff, "I'll tell you what's wrong. We're ten centimeters tall, likely for the rest our lives."

He took on a calmer tone to explain, "I've been living in Bright and Shade's shadow. 'Oh, Prince Bright, you're so gorgeous.' 'Oh, Prince Shade, you're so cool,'" he said in mocking, feminine voice. He fell back onto his rock. "I'm the odd prince out and then this happens to me. Now everyone in the Tane-Tane Kingdom knows I can't swim. I'm a failure as a prince."

"You can't say that," Sophie scolded. "You're the best pilot I know, except for maybe Bret who we met today. You might not be as popular as Bright or Shade, but Altezza likes you for who you are."

"What if she learns I can't swim?" Auler asked.

"She wouldn't think less of you," I said tenderly. "As for our size, the engineers said the rain will stop tonight. We're as good as being big again."

"Now come back to the _Hurricane_," Sophie said. "It's time for dinner and Franklin's serving something called emarees."

Auler cracked a grin. He then happened to look past us at the sky. "Look at that," he exclaimed.

We turned back and gasped. In the black void above was a patch of stars. Sophie and I jumped for joy at the sight. At last, something was looking up today. The Tane-Tane Kingdom's nightmare was coming to an end and we could make an argument to the Mother Tree to return us to our original size.

Our celebration was cut short by a shrill scream echoing through the night. A huge form flew over us and crashed into a nearby tree. We saw that it was Bret as his body slid to the ground and slumped over the trunk. We feared the worst until he gave a low moan.

"What in this country could do that to Bret?" Auler finally exclaimed.

A pool of blinding light came over us. He looked up past the source of light. Above it reptilian eyes squinted and small, sharp teeth arranged into a grin appeared in the blackness high above us. I screamed in terror as a dark hand swept in and grabbed the three of us.

We were trapped in the large, scaly hand. The grip was not tight enough to crush us but we could not squirm free either. We were lifted up to the level of those eyes that stared at us.

"Let us go," Auler demanded.

Without a word, the Gator brought up the hand holding the flashlight and cage. He opened the door and through us in before slamming it shut again. He turned to leave to find King and many of his soldiers before him.

"Lizard monster," King demanded, "release the prince and princesses and leave my country at once-dane."

The Gator glared down at them. He let the harpoon rifle slide off his shoulder and into his hand. He took aim on King until the blue dot cast by the laser sight fell on his hat. He then squeezed the trigger and the rifle quietly loosed a harpoon that threw King's tall hat off his head and embed in the ground behind him.

The soldiers jumped. "Uh…orders-dane?" one asked.

"My father always said never fight someone with ammo bigger than you are-dane," King said. He then screamed, "RETREAT-dane!"

He and his soldiers ran screaming into the night. The Gator grinned as they scurried off. He then turned to Bret. "Don't get up on my account."

Bret groaned in response.

The Gator chuckled cruelly as he took us into the night.

* * *

"Lady Nicole," Alex called out as, "where are you?"

He glided through the gloom trying to find her. However, it was the blackest night he had ever seen to make even pitch envious. The rain also washed the air of any scent beyond musk and dampened any sound.

"Where could she have gone off to," he growled.

He passed by a bush when he was pulled in. A hand slapped over his mouth as Nicole shushed him.

"What are you doing out here?" Alex snapped as she removed her hand.

"I found something," Nicole said.

She took Alex to a clearing where the Gator's stingray was still parked. The two approached it and started examining it. Alex landed on the right wing that was adorned with the Drop Kingdom's emblem. However, a crude, red "X" had been spray painted over it.

He felt a chill go down his spine and gulped dryly. "Uh...Nicole," he whimpered, "I think we should get out of here."

"Why?" Nicole asked.

They heard footsteps approaching in the mud. In a panic, they jumped into the open cockpit before they knew what they were doing.

The Gator swaggered back to his craft. He climbed onto the wing and deposited us right into Nicole's lap without looking. We shushed each other as he jumped into the pilot's seat.

The massive reptile then snorted the air. Our blood ran cold as we feared he would discover Alex and Nicole. However, he shrugged it off.

He started the stingray up and the four-bladed propellers on the back of the broad wings began turning and the craft pulled forward. He also pressed a button that made the canopy slide shut, trapping all of us.

The stingray rose off the ground and into the black clouds. Alex and Nicole were afraid to breathe as we rose higher and higher into the atmosphere. We could only watch as the Gator guided us to his destination and hope he did not discover the stowaways.

We eventually emerged from the clouds into clear night sky. The Full Moon bathed us in its pale, yellow light. The blanket of clouds that covered the Tane-Tane Kingdom seemed to extend forever. Seeing it from above, it looked almost like the sandy desert of the Moon Kingdom in the pale light.

We began to descend again as the clouds disappeared behind us. They were replaced by wetland that extended to the Line of Obscurity in all directions. We flew down towards an island in the middle of a large lake and landed on a runway.

As soon as the canopy opened, Alex and Nicole leapt out and hid under the wing.

We looked around at where we had been taken. Gators were scattered about the tarmac, many carrying rifles. Several lamps attached to the ramshackle buildings cast columns of light where clouds of gnats danced.

"This fine mess you've gotten us into you," Alex snapped, making sure to keep his voice hushed.

"It's too late to complain about that now," Nicole said. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Sophie panted, "but it's really hot and sticky." She took out her fan and started waving air towards her to try to cool down.

"Judging by the natives we're somewhere in the Drop Kingdom," Alex answered.

"Why would citizens of the Drop Kingdom kidnap their own princess?" Auler asked.

"I don't know," Alex said. "However, if what I saw on the wing of this thing is any indication, these people aren't exactly loyal to Queen Yamul."

"How do we get out of her then?" I asked.

We looked around. There were other craft like this one. However, they were heavily guarded. We then saw a balloon parked not to far from us. Its envelope was in the shape of a circle on its edge and decorated in brilliant reds, yellows, and pinks to look like a sun.

"What's a Sunny Kingdom vessel doing here?" Nicole gasped.

"I don't know," Alex said. "However, we might be able to steal it to escape. I don't see any guards around it."

Waltu walked towards the stingray. Fortunately, the tarmac was badly lit and we were veiled in the craft's shadow. The pigmy pinniped rubbed his tongue on his golden tusk as he came to stand before the craft.

He snorted the air. "What smells like wet dog?"

"I don't know," the Gator answered. "My stingray smelled like it in the Tane-Tane Kingdom."

"Whatever," Waltu said. "Did you get them?"

"I got 'em," the Gator announced.

"Good," Waltu replied. "Take them to Lord Geronita."

The Gator got up from his seat to reach into the back, but found it empty. Knowing they were as good as discovered, Nicole and Alex bolted for the Sunny Kingdom airship.

"What? Doggels?" Waltu exclaimed. "Get them!"

Several of the Gators began to give chase. However, Nicole and Alex reached the airship before any got near. The hatched opened just as they ran up the gangplank with Khan standing in the passage.

"Thank you," Nicole panted.

Without a word, Khan pulled a dart gun and aimed it at the two canines. They abruptly stopped and Nicole felt powerful hands taking her by the arms. She threw the cage to Alex. "Alex, get them back to Drop Kingdom engineers," she ordered as the Gators pulled her off the gangplank.

"What about you?" Alex panicked.

"Just get them out of here," Nicole snapped.

Alex nodded and darted into the night sky before the reptiles could grab him. We all looked back at the island diminishing with distance behind us. We thought we were clear when the cage was suddenly ripped from Alex's grasp. Alex then ran into the chest of Talia.

Talia grabbed the Doggel by his jacket and held him so their eyes met. "Bad dog," she scolded, wagging her finger in a condescending manner in front of his face, "no biscuit."

We were being held by Copter-Bot as they flew us back to the tarmac.

"Excellent," Waltu hissed into a cackle as they landed. "Take the princess, and chikuwa-eared ones to Lord Geronita."

* * *

Tammy heaved a sigh once she found Bret still slumped over the tree. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him. Bret responded by grumbling, "come on, Ma, I don't wanna go to school today."

Tammy heaved another, more exasperated sigh. She nonchalantly stomped his furry tail laying the mud. Bret jumped to his feet with a yelp in pain. He instinctively looked back to his tail that now had a distinct dent in it.

"Do you know how painful a hundred and five kilos of Beaver in ballerina flats stomping on your tail is?" he asked in a growl.

Tammy shot back, "not nearly as much as a hundred and _three_ kilos of Beaver in ballerina flats shoved straight up your…"

"Would you two save it," Spigot snapped at them as he walked up. "Have either of you seen Princess Milro or the others?"

They shook their heads in response.

"Have you found them?" Emily asked as she and Franklin joined them.

"No," Spigot said.

"The lizard monster got them-dane," King said as he and his men returned.

"Lizard monster?" Spigot asked.

"He probably means the Gator that confused me for a football," Bret said.

"GATOR!?" Spigot yelped.

"What's a Gator-dane?" King asked.

"They're a reptilian race from the Zubuzubu Swamp loyal to Gerointa," Spigot moaned. "Now Princess Milro and the others are in the hands of that psychopath."

"Chief," Lee and Ophelia said simultaneously as they ran towards the group, "we just saw a Gator take off," Ophelia completed their thought. Lee added, "He had Princess Milro, the prince and princess of the Windmill Kingdom as well as Nicole and Alex."

"Can't anything go right today?" Spigot groaned.

As if on cue, the rain suddenly stopped. Everyone looked up to see a few patches of stars in the clouds. The patter that had been constant in the background was replaced by an eerie silence.

"The weather patterns are shifting like we suspected they would," Lee said.

"That means Princess Milro and the other will be returned to normal," Franklin said jubilantly.

"Not if their outside the Tane-Tane Kingdom-dane," King said gravely. "The Mother Tree's powers end at our borders-dane."

"Figures," Spigot groaned. "Well, I guess we'll just have to go and get them. Let's go guys."

He turned to the other engineers but they were not there but in a dead run towards the _Hurricane_. "If we hurry, we can make it back to Snow Mountain before midnight," Bret said.

"All of you stop right now," Spigot roared.

The six engineers stopped immediately.

"Where do you think you're going?" Spigot asked sharply.

"We're not going to the Zubuzubu Swamp if that's what you're asking," Ophelia shot back. "That place is crawling with Gators and who knows what else."

"Besides, we're scientists, not counterinsurgents," Lee added. "This is a job for the militia."

"The militia won't make a move until dawn," Spigot said in response.

"The curse," Ophelia said.

"It'll become permanent by then," Lee added.

"We have no choice," the twins grumbled at once.


End file.
